


Deep In Their Roots, All Flowers Keep The Light

by Fox_155



Series: NosferaCT - A Symphony Of Chaos (NCT Vampire AU) [7]
Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: (no one from NCT), Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Bad Parenting, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Eventual Smut, Fae & Fairies, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mother Hen Qian Kun, Mutual Pining, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-13
Packaged: 2019-10-15 00:55:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 59,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17519123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fox_155/pseuds/Fox_155
Summary: Kun worked at the flower shop, because he was a workaholic and the idea of lazing at home sent him into nervous breakdown.Dejun came to the flower shop, because he needed a little life in his dorm room, which seemed very dull while he was slaving away on his Master thesis.Kun had lived over four hundred years without ever having his secret – the blood-drinking-never-dying one – found out by anyone. Sure, Dejun’s favourite hobby was digging up conspiracy articles about the existence of supernatural forces being among unsuspecting humans… but Kun was only giving him a helping hand with that research on the same field he had been working in.What could possibly happen?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own any of the people and this story isn't by any means an accurate representation of the people by whom it is inspired by.
> 
> Especially, since there isn’t that much content on the new WayV/NCT members yet, I hope I can do them justice. I dug up every pre-debut, SMRookies, and WayV video/fan report I could find to get a good idea about what their personalities are like, but as we get to know them better, the perception might change. But I felt super inspired by the WayV debut and the new members, who all seem so precious and... yeah. The relationship tag doesn't even exist yet... (ok it now does haha)
> 
> This is set in Seoul, South Korea, 2019, but with some creative freedom.
> 
> This is part of a series, if you are interested in the other parts, check the series for the timeline. 😊
> 
> Title is by Theodore Roethke. Please be mindful of the tags~  
> Dejun's aged up a bit.
> 
> TW: violence, death
> 
> [inspiration](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DxZwK5iUYAAhDbt.jpg), [more inspiration (those shoes)](https://66.media.tumblr.com/066f4e07ed858cbf8dda06ebbef81c08/tumblr_plm7594HC61v6bamko2_1280.jpg)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

There was something to the beauty of flowers, that just didn’t compare to anything else. A reason, why centuries of people had used them to put feelings into something, that words couldn’t grasp. To decorate their houses, their clothing, and themselves with them.

If Kun was being completely honest… he hadn’t seen the appeal for most of his life. Which was pretty sad because Kun had lived a very long life already. But the multi-coloured blossoms had never really interested him, never caught his attention for longer than a short moment of acknowledgement.

So, that he’d be finding himself in a flower shop, of all places, working for an elderly lady, seemed quite out of character.

It wasn’t like he had gotten the job because he wanted to work with flowers. As mentioned, he had had about zero interest in them prior to landing this job. Kun had just needed something to do, anything was fair game, because, for the 455 years that he had been living, Kun had been working for 437.

General, Royal Advisor, Merchant, Lawyer, Broker, Investment Banker, Scientist, Accountant, Tax Counsellor – Kun had done it all. He had gone to university so many times, had collected so many degrees - but working in the field was usually what interested him most.

There was just one… tiny problem, that came with the development of modern technology:

High-resolution photographs and the never-forgetting internet.

Sure, it was great to look things up, fantastic even. Never had Kun had access to so much knowledge so quickly. It just came at the costs of someone easily noticing that one employee forever looked 22-years-old, never ageing a day over the duration of 10, 20, 30 years.

That usually stood out as weird to people.

To avoid having his and the whole vampire population of Seoul’s cover blown, Kun had stepped down from his job at a reputable law firm about a year ago, to let some time pass by until no one would know him anymore.

All his previous jobs had ended up being high-profile because he worked himself up the ladders, but now, people between professions would exchange information, worldwide even. It was much too risky someone would end up recognising him.

He needed something low-key for a few decades.

His original plan had been to apply at a coffee shop because Kun had a bit of a problem regarding his caffeine consumption. Literally any place would do, so he had just been walking through the neighbourhood and asking for vacancies everywhere when he witnessed this old lady getting scammed out of 20,000 won.

Of course, that wasn’t that much money and it was not really his business. When Kun had been young and raised to have the moral values he still lived by, ladies had been treated like precious flowers. Scamming one, especially an elderly one, went against everything he stood for. Out of principle, Kun had stepped in.

Because of that, he had ended up with a job at Mrs. Wang’s Flower Paradise Sinsadong. And with her constantly cheerful voice offering new wisdom about what which blossom and colour stood for, how to most beautifully arrange them, and to even form a whole sentence with just a bouquet, Kun had somehow ended up adoring the flowers, too.

Plants needed a good atmosphere to grow prettily, so Mrs Wang always insisted, because true beauty could only grow out of a beautiful mindset. To give them the love they needed, Kun was humming softly to the tunes of the trot songs, that echoed through the shop at all times, while he watered their pots.

The bell of the door chimed, and he looked over his shoulder. It was getting late on a weekday, so mostly businessmen, who wanted a small gift for their wives, would come by at this hour. The person looking around the shop with curious eyes was too young for the typical customer and dressed in just a worn-down black Adidas track-suit.

“Hi!” the young man had spotted Kun in the far corner of the shop.

He put down the mint green watering can and hurried over. Good customer service was important! Even when this guy seemed to have taken the wrong door.

“Hello, how may I help you?” Kun slipped on his polite customer smile as he stepped behind the work bench, which served as their counter.

His selling techniques had been perfected for four centuries. He used to sell life-insurances worth the yearly income of the clients within minutes, so selling flowers was child’s play.

The guy narrowed his eyes for a moment as if he was confused by Kun’s face. Maybe he had gotten dirt on it again? It happened easily and much too often, so Kun raised a hand and self-consciously rubbed over his right cheek. That seemed to snap the customer out of it. He blinked and was back to smiling brightly.

“So, I was looking for a flower that was pretty, but also didn’t die when I forget it exists for, like, three weeks? Do you have something like that?”

The way his pronunciation was just a little off was more than familiar to Kun and he felt himself already slipping out of selling-mode and into… what did Ten call it? Mother-Hen mode. That. He couldn’t help it, living far from home was difficult, and sharing the same native country, he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to make sure any Chinese in Seoul was living their best life, well-fed, and protected.

“Well, that depends on what you’d consider a flower. If you want to keep it around, I’d recommend a potted plant, but they won’t be in blossom all year round. If you want to make sure it won’t dry out and die, I’d probably recommend a cactus or a succulent. They’ll be fine without water for a few weeks. Some palm trees also work, but they typically don’t bloom at all and take up more space.”

The guy was probably still a student, possibly an exchange student, so most likely he didn’t have much room for plants.

“What’s a succ…something?” the guy furrowed his brows. Kun internally scolded himself for using the word in Korean in the first place. He shouldn’t make him feel uncomfortable and confused. So, he switched to Mandarin.

“ _A succulent, the type of plant with thick, fleshly leaves. They can store water in them, so they don’t need to be watered as often_.”

“ _Wow, holy shit, your Mandarin is so good! For how long have you been learning_?” the guy’s mouth dropped open and he leaned onto the desk between them, staring at Kun in surprise. Kun was just as surprised. No one had asked him that before.

“ _I’m… Chinese_?”

The other made a choked off noise and collapsed onto the surface of the working table dramatically. “ _Ah, no, I’m so embarrassed! How could I have missed that? Please forget I asked_.”

Kun patted his shoulder. He knew how to deal with over-dramatic people. More than half his coven consisted of them.

“ _It’s fine. I mean, I’m glad my Korean is so good?”_

_“It’s really good! Amazing, really! Where are you from? I’m from Guangdong!”_

_“Fujian. We’re neighbours then.”_

_“So to speak. Okay, so do you have succulents? I don’t think I know any.”_

“ _We currently only have a few, but if you don’t like any of them, we can look them up and I can get them from our supplier within a few days.”_

 _“Great_!” the guy clapped his hands and straightened up. He wasn’t very tall, Kun noticed. Because Kun was very aware he also wasn’t very tall, but this man was shorter than him. It sort of contributed well to the cute mannerism.

Because colourful spring flowers were more popular, as the temperatures rose, the few remaining potted succulents were scattered over the whole shop and Kun went from one corner to the other to show them off. The stranger was fascinated by the stripes of the Zebra Cactus, curiously squeezed the Aloe Vera, when Kun said it was fine, and brushed over the branches of the Burro’s Tail with gentle fingers.

Kun rattled down how to care for each of them and then showed him some cacti, too, but he said he didn’t like the thorns, so they were off the table anyway.

“ _I don’t think I can choose yet. They’re all pretty, but none screamed, like… I’m your plant_.” His eyes were narrowed as he scanned over the shop once more, like he was looking for a plant to actually call him.

“ _We can look some more up if you want to. Maybe you can find one there. There’s also some that bloom, maybe that’s more to your taste?”_

 _“That’d be great, thank you_!” the guy beamed and Kun led him back to the work table, where he powered up the computer, logging into Mrs Wang’s account.

“ _So, why are you in Korea_?” the customer asked, while Kun pulled up the page of one of their suppliers, of whom he knew that they had pictures for all the exotic plants they offered.

“ _I, uh, I like to travel_.” Kun airily answered. It wasn’t a lie. He loved travelling and had spent all his life moving from place to place every one to two years. He had gotten to India, Arabia, and Europe via the silk street much before China had really opened up to the west. France had been the hip place to be in the 18th century, after all.

That he was still here was purely due to the border being closed off, leaving the immortal and thus unregistered vampires pretty much stranded in the country. But he had gotten used to it. To the country, the language, the people, and to having his own coven. It had taken a bit, but now he wouldn’t change that for anything else.

“ _Are you an exchange student_?” Kun returned the question before he’d have to come up with more half-truths.

“ _I am. These kinda give it away, righ_ t?” He pulled on his jogging pants and Kun nodded. “ _Speaking of university… has someone told you before that you look super similar to Qian Kun? You know? The guy who tried to synthetically make blood in the late 90s? Are you related to him or something_?”

What.

The.

Fuc-Fudge?

“ _Synthetically make blood? Who does stuff like that_?” Kun asked, putting a genuinely confused face on as he turned from the PC screen while he was panicking internally.

How did this exchange student know him? And from his time at Seoul National, too? He had made so sure there were no photos in any magazines and the field of research was extremely specific and unpopular – not to mention so ridiculously unsuccessful that any money-giver had quickly lost interest, no matter how big a fortune they might have been able to make off of it, was there a successful result. Which… there wasn’t. Kun couldn’t blame them.

“ _Ah, guess not. I know it’s a bit of an unknown topic of research, but you really resemble him, so I wondered. By the way, what’s your name_?” the guy smiled brightly and Kun reacted on a whim.

“ _Zhong Chenle.”_

_“Oh, as in happy? That’s so cute! I’m Xiao Dejun.”_

Kun’s smile was slightly strained now. He’d have to get this guy out of here before Mrs Wang came back and greeted him, or his brain fried from being called the name of the human high schooler he had taken under his wing.

 _“Nice to meet you. So, here we have the succulents our supplier carries_.”

 

 

“Remember, it’s very important to not leave images of yourselves anywhere, because people might see them and recognise you and that brings nothing but trouble.”

Ten overpitched his already high voice and made it awkwardly soft and smooth, as he recited what Kun had told the coven so many times.

He had somewhat had that one coming.

“Like, who is lame enough to look into failed research?” Yuta was flopped over the back of the sofa in a questionable position, his boyfriend holding his arm, so he could properly stretch. Kun had missed when Yuta had started to stop making fun of Ten’s daily morning stretching sessions and started doing it himself, and it seemed like it was too late to ask at this point.

“He didn’t seem too lame. Maybe he did a paper on what not to do?” Kun contemplated. Maybe something had developed out of his work, he hadn’t kept in touch. It was a bit of a sore subject, it was like keeping up contact to an ex – he just didn’t do it.

“Well, you don’t have to see him again, so it’ll be fine,” Sicheng assured, before letting go of Yuta’s arm and taking the other one.

“Yeah.” Kun breathed. With some luck, Dejun would come in when Mrs Wang or his co-worker were on shift. Even if he didn’t, it’d just be a short, meaningless meeting and then definitely never see him again. He was just going to pick up the Lithops he had picked out, after almost crawling into the PC screen, because they were “ _so, so cute and adorable, like mini-chairs_ ”. Kun kind of wanted to be there, when he saw them in real life…

“So, about the meeting Joohyun has scheduled.” He switched the topic before anyone could look through his poorly constructed half-truths. Lying outside of the job had never been Kun’s strong suit.

“Another one?” Taeil’s eyebrows rose when he chimed in for the first time.

“Yes, another one.” Kun sighed and rubbed his temples. “If Taeyeon or the Hunters had ever worried about there being too many vampires in the city, the problem’s slowly solving itself now.”

A moment of silence stretched over the room, all of them tense at the mention of the former leader of the coven that had reigned over Seoul with an iron fist since the war had ended and the ways out of the country had been blocked.

“Who’s challenging her this time?” Ten asked, voice uncharacteristically subdued while he fumbled with the smartphone in his hand.

“Gyuri’s coven.”

The others nodded. “There’s six of them in hers, right?” Sicheng inquired as the two ended their stretching efforts and sat down properly.

“Yes and they all pledged loyalty to her, so if she’s going down, so are they.” Kun sighed deeply.

“I wished Qian would just come forward and challenge her herself, instead of sending every coven that’s in her favour. If the two of them figure it out between themselves, the rest of Seoul would follow and quiet down.” Yuta grumbled. “There’s been 13 duels over the last four months. So many lives lost, just because Joohyun and Soojung both see themselves as the rightful heiresses to Taeyeon.”

“I know. But there’s absolutely nothing we can do. They’re all their own bosses.” Kun started.

“And if we get involved our pledge of loyalty will be questioned if Qian does overthrow Joohyun. And that’s the last thing we need.” Ten ended, voice serious. It was the short version of what was going down in Seoul right now. No one said it, but they all were strongly in favour of Joohyun and her fresher, less cruel approach to keeping the vampires in check with rules.

“So, who’s coming with me?” Kun looked around.

Yuta was out of the question. He was on the list of the Hunters after accidentally revealing himself to one during a wild night of clubbing last year. The Hunters were a team of trained fighters, there to kill all supernatural life. And while Yuta could be very annoying, they didn’t want him to get staked while waltzing down the street, so he was banned inside most of the time, save for a few exceptions during which he’d have to bundle up and hide his face as much as possible.

But everyone else was an option.

“Sicheng and me are going to watch the new Shazam movie today, so we don’t have time.” Yuta chirped, snaking his arms around his boyfriend tightly, who nodded curtly. Sicheng had also never come, always keeping Yuta company.

“Where, though? That only just started in cinemas?” Taeil blinked in confusion.

“Oh, Jungwoo knows some places where you can watch them.” From Yuta’s tone of voice, those were illegal places and Kun would have to turn a blind eye.

“Right. Ten? Taeil?” Kun glanced at the other two.

“I always feel like throwing up when they rip off the heads,” Taeil mumbled, looking a bit green. It was understandable and Kun was the last person to force someone to watch the duels. He personally didn’t enjoy it either. But it’d look bad to come alone and not coming was bordering on treason.

“I’ll come if no one else comes, but Johnny had night shifts for two weeks until this weekend and I seriously need to get fucked on that evening.” Ten sighed, eyes glassing over.

“Ew.” Yuta mocked gagging and the two immediately were in an argument over who was the more desperate and thirsty embarrassment in the house. Kun had learnt to tune them out decades ago.

“Alright, I’ll drop by Jaehyun and Taeyong’s on my way home then, to find a volunteer. Anything happened here today?”

“Dodo-Chan threw my bananas from the window. They were perfectly ripe, too. I tried to throw him after, but he pinned me down. Damn Hunter training.” Yuta frowned and Sicheng carded his fingers through the newly honey-blond hair of the Japanese.

“Why…” Kun cut himself off. He didn’t want to know. “Did the bananas hit anyone?” he asked instead. If they were getting sued… they were in trouble.

“No, but the housekeeper chewed off my ear. It wasn’t me who threw them! How did he even know it was us?” It could have been the old lady below us. Seriously.”

Kun sighed in relief.

“Well, I had a quiet day at the hospital.” Taeil fulfilled his role as the voice of reason and pole for Kun’s sanity.

“Great. Sicheng, how was your day?”

“Oh, fun! We had someone who tried archery for the first time with an arrow in their leg come in.” Sicheng beamed.

“Cases like that are the reason why I don’t have faith in humanity.” Ten shook his head.

 

Lucky for Ten and his love life, Jaehyun and Taeyong agreed to go with him.

 

Since the job at the coffee shop hadn’t happened, Kun had invested some of his savings into a fancy Italian coffee machine. It wasn’t even something up for debate, that the Italians made the best coffee. And this coffee machine was as close as Kun would get to Bella Italia for now. It even spoke Italian, it was great because that kept his flatmates off it and thus ensured it lived for longer than two days.

He watched in the peacefulness only an early morning could give, as a hot stream of dark brown fresh brew was topped off with fluffy, steamed milk. The machine made a soft chime to confirm the drink was done and Kun took it, taking a long sniff. Once he had to disappear from the flower shop, he was so going to get a job at some coffee place!

“Morning.” Kun opened his eyes. The next person seemed to have risen and stumbled into the small kitchen, dressed in a button-up and jeans, but otherwise looking half-asleep.

“Good Morning, Dongyoung.” Kun smiled “Want a coffee?”

“Yeah, that’d be super awesome!” Dongyoung blinked his direction. In theory, Kun would explain the machine to Dongyoung with little worries over any damage happening. He’d also entrust Jungwoo with it. The problem was, that once those two knew, Lucas would be next. And Lucas blended ramen in Yuta’s smoothie maker because he missed the taste. God knew what ideas he’d have for his holy coffee machine.

“Lungo?”

“Hmh.”

Kun pushed a new cup under the outlet and pressed the button. The whirring of the coffee beans filled the kitchen for a moment and Kun just listened.

“So, uh, who do you think will come out on top this time? During the duel, I mean?” Dongyoung was fiddling with his shirt.

The coffee machine finished and Kun handed the cup over.

Dongyoung hadn’t been a vampire for long. During the event that had set off the brutal fight over the new reign over the city, he had been a victim, caught in crossfire so to say. As a sick present to the HQ of the Hunters, the traitor from the lines of the former “queens”, had turned one of them and dumped him in front of the main entrance.

Due to his friends stepping in, Dongyoung had been freed and joined their coven, where he was just as confined to stay inside as Yuta. Maybe even more so because people knew his face so well from all the articles that had been posted by the media over the weeks of terror reigning and almost blowing the supernaturals’ cover to the public.

“I don’t know Gyuri too well, so we’ll see. But Joohyun is quite set on keeping her power and she’s older than one might think, so she could have the upper hand.”

Age directly correlated to strength in vampires. And age gave you time to train, which would put you even more at an advantage. Times had been peaceful for long, so many younger vampires weren’t drilled into martial arts and combat. Joohyun wasn’t a young vampire and Kun had seen her every time she had gotten challenged and every time she had won. Sometimes easier, sometimes with more effort, but the end result was all that counted.

Dongyoung hummed. “If HQ knew, they’d probably be throwing a party at that the vampires are taking each other out.” He chuckled and Kun nodded, agreeing fully. Still, he’d rather have someone go up willing to risk their lives, no matter if he understood why, than be surprised and killed off guard by the Hunters.

“I’ll be sure to tell you the outcome as soon as the duel ends,” Kun promised and put his finished cup into the sink before he took the sponge and wiped down the working top and quickly rinsed the coffee out, putting it on the drying rack. While he was at it, he also washed the two glasses someone else had dumped in there.

“I have a shift now, so I’ll get going. See you later.” Kun dried off his hands and got to leaving.

“Oh, I’ll go home.”

Technically, Dongyoung lived with Ten because Kun’s flat was not big enough for four people. Yuta had suggested for Dongyoung and Kun to switch, but… they all were so young! Lucas was the oldest and had only been a vampire for seven years. What if they ran out of blood? Or there was a power outage? Or aliens?

Kun already had to handle that Jaehyun and Taeyong were living all on their own now. He was not letting baby-vampires fight all on their own!

“Alright, we might still see each other.”

 

 

“ _Hey_!” the bell chimed and Kun didn’t have to look up from where he was cutting off dry leaves from the roses to know who was greeting him in Mandarin. “ _I didn’t have time to come yesterday, I hope that’s not a problem_?”

Dejun was in dark green sweats today, which looked just as beat as the black ones four days ago.

“ _No, absolutely not, don’t worry_ ,” Kun assured him. Was it just him, or did Dejun look still pretty decent in those old clothes… maybe it was the eyebrows? Or the sculpted jaw and high cheekbones? “ _Look, they’re doing very well, this one even has a bud, so if you’re lucky and it doesn’t get too stressed from re-location, you’ll have it blooming in a few days already_.”

Dejun carefully took the pot from Kun’s hands, the human’s warm against him. “ _They’re so pretty! They’re actually like chairs. Tiny chairs for fairies_!”

“ _Fairies_?” Kun raised an eyebrow as he wrote up the total.

“ _Yes, you know? Like Tinkerbell? Maybe they’d like to stop by, now that I offer tiny chairs for them. Do you think I should offer some food, too? What do you think they’d like?”_

_“Uh… I don’t think there’s any info on that… since they’re mythological?”_

_“Oh no, they’re not, they’re real. Like mermaids, ghosts, and vampires_.” Dejun looked up, face serious.

Vampires??

“ _So, maybe they’d like honey? Like hummingbirds and bees.”_

_“I mean, there’s no harm in trying, as long as you don’t get ants?”_

_“Oh, but ants are cute, too. Thanks for the tip. Wait. How often do I water these?”_

_“Just really sparingly spritz them down from time to time. And don’t water them in winter if it’s cold where they stand. Do you want me to write it down? Just in case?”_

_“That’d be great_!” Dejun nodded animatedly and Kun pulled out a notepad and pen, and started, only to get stopped a few words in.

_“Are those traditional characters? Do you write in traditional? Aren’t you from Fujian?”_

Kun halted on the page and internally whacked himself. Mainland China hadn’t used traditional characters for years. With looking 22, he should be using the simplified ones.

_“Uh, yeah, since Korea uses Hanja, I picked them up.”_

_“Oh! Oh wow! That’s impressive! Okay, I can probably make sense of them, though I’d never have the nerve to learn another set_.” Dejun laughed brightly and Kun had to stop himself from going his usual rant about traditional characters being much easier and more natural to learn. “ _But they’re so pretty! Say, I kept wondering, so sorry for asking, but is your mom’s family name Qian by any chance_?”

“ _Why_?” Kun tried to play confused. Damn, he had thought Dejun had let the ‘Qian Kun the scientist’ topic go. When he looked up, the other was softly caressing the succulent’s leaves.

_“Oh, because I pulled the papers by the Qian Kun, I told you about back out, because I thought you really, really resemble him, and you do!”_

“ _Is there a picture of that guy in the papers? Or where did you get that from_?” Why was there a picture of him in those papers? They were scientific papers, for god’s sake, not the Cosmopolitan!

“ _Yeah, in the front, where the scientists get introduced. Wait, I took a photo of it_.” He put the pot down and pulled his phone from his hoodie’s kangaroo pocket.

Lo and behold. It was Kun. With his questionable 90s hairstyle. Not that he had expected it to be someone else. But one could hope…

“ _Wow, he does look really similar. But I think I look a bit more handsome_.” Kun grinned and turned his attention back to where he was writing “plants like good atmosphere, play soft music.” Missing the blush on Dejun’s face.

_“So your mom’s name isn’t Qian?”_

“ _Hm? Oh. No, it’s Li_.” It wasn’t even a lie.

“ _Ah, what a bummer. His work was actually amazing, all the newer studies are based on it, so it’d have been a great help to talk to him. I thought if maybe he were his uncle, you might have been able to give me his email_.” The thought to backtrack and give Dejun his email shortly crossed his mind before Kun remembered how completely insane that was.

Thank god there were some brain cells unaffected by the need to take care of this guy.

“ _There’s new research in the field_?” Kun carefully asked, trying to seem unsuspicious “ _I thought you said it was old_?” Sore over failure or not - this was interesting news and he needed to know more!

“ _Yeah! I’m doing my Masters thesis on some tiny detail in the process, but there’s really been some big steps made. The places where they could use it are endless. There’s so many treatments that heavily rely on donated blood, but there’s always a shortage and the compatibility is never perfect because there’s so much more than just the blood type and Rh system that makes it unique to a person. Maybe synthetic blood could just not have all that and be perfect. So many people would profit.”_

Kun nodded. Those had been the reasons why he had gotten funding back then. Not his personal motivation, though helping people was always great and stuff.

“ _And_.” Dejun lowered his voice “ _You know it could help vampires! If they aren’t comfortable with biting people and stuff. Or maybe they have to, like, steal from blood banks. I’m not sure about the details, because it’s, like, under government lockdown. But yeah. I think we can help them, too_.”

Kun felt his blood run a bit colder. Was this guy aware of how close to home he was hitting? Or was he just making this up on the go?

“ _Vampires? Uh… they aren’t real, right_?”

“ _That’s what the government wants you to think_.” Dejun nodded, face set in a serious expression. It was indeed what the government wanted you to know. The government and the vampires. Kun wondered if he should just… really quickly slip into this boy’s head and set that straight…

But he ended up missing his chance because Dejun looked down, breaking the eye contact. “ _So, yeah, I’m really into this and hope I can research on it some more after. If I get the chance. I could make many peoples’ lives better. I’d like that.”_

Kun felt himself soften. “ _That’s very admirable of you! I’m sure you’ll still do great!”_

_“Thank you!”_

 

With the note folded and the succulents paid for and carefully wrapped up, Kun was almost a bit sad to watch Dejun leave. He was a little weird but… sweet. But this was for the better. Not to imagine what might happen if he got any sort of information on Kun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's actually a reason why Kun borrowed Chenle’s name specifically. No, not just because he basically adopted him, but also because they share the same Radical in their family name: ⻐ (Jin, metal) is in 钱 (Qian) and in 钟 (Zhong). And I have no clue what Kun’s mother’s name really is.
> 
> I wanted to mention, that I in no way, shape, or form hate the simplified Chinese writing, but am eternally grateful, because traditional characters are scary af. But I know a lot of people love to hate them and I can somewhat see Kun as someone to stick to traditions. Plus writing is such an essential part of culture, changing it must be really strange for those who grew up with the old ways, I’d imagine.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: please take the character death tag seriously!  
> A turnee describes the persons a vampire turned.  
> [soft Xiaojun](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dxg1dpfUUAAvdHH.jpg:large)
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

The thoughts about the strange customer were pushed aside when Kun met up with Jaehyun and Taeyong at the subway station to take it to the other side of Han river, where Joohyun and her coven of three lived and the meeting was going to take place.

“So, I got it right, there’s six of them? And they all pledged loyalty to their leader?” Jaehyun asked as they boarded the train, crowded with late Saturday shoppers. He wrapped an arm around Taeyong and made sure to gently pull his boyfriend into a free space, where he could stand more comfortably and Jaehyun would shield him off.

“That’s correct.” Kun nodded. They spoke so softly that bystanders had no chance of catching their words, while their finer ears were easily able to pick the words up.

“How old is Gyuri?” Taeyong inquired, holding onto Jaehyun to keep stable. The two were so in tune with each other, it was like they read each other’s thoughts, hands already reaching for each other before they had even moved yet. It was heart-warming to watch for Kun.

“She’s already been around when I came to Seoul in 1944, but I’ve never been close to her, so I don’t know.”

“Hm.” Jaehyun and Taeyong nodded in synch.

“And when will Qian stop her game of hiding in shadows, while everyone knows it’s her?” Jaehyun asked, disapproval clear in his voice.

“I don’t think it’ll be much longer. She’s running out of supporters willing to step up for her and if she ends up with a far smaller loyal crowd than Joohyun, she’ll risk being overthrown. I don’t think she’ll sacrifice many more to try and claim her title for her.”

“I thought so, too.” Taeyong agreed. “She’ll probably strike some time now.”

“Say, Kun. Do you plan to talk to Jungwoo about this?” Jaehyun’s face was dark.

Kun furrowed his brows “Do you think that’s necessary? I’m sure his loyalties lie with us. I don’t see any need to even talk to him, honestly. I trust him.”

“Well, I agree, but she was the one to turn him and teach him at first,” Jaehyun argued.

“But she did a shitty job at it and they aren’t even in touch. Vampires don’t have underlying, deep loyalties, not like wolves. I trust him, so I don’t see any need to talk to him. Or is there, Taeyong?” he faced the other now because Taeyong was quite good friends with Jungwoo and might have a deeper insight.

“I mean I think Jungwoo’s with us, too. But we were just wondering.”

“Well, then I see no issue.”

“And Qian? She doesn’t have any special bond with him through her being his creator? Like a natural bewitchment?” Jaehyun pressed. “I’m just asking, we can’t be too safe.”

Kun smiled. “The only bond I have with my turnee, stems from that we were a coven for so many years. So no. I don’t think she even cares about him or she would have already made sure he had changed sides.”

“That’s good. I don’t think Jungwoo would keep it a secret from us, had she done something of the likes. Not after how they treated him before, not when he as his boyfriends on our side.”

Kun nodded. Jungwoo was one of their youngest members and very a very sensitive soul, that needed extra protection. Like any baby-vampire, including Taeyong and Jaehyun, regardless of that a few decades had already passed since their turning.

The announcement called their station and they followed the masses leaving the train.

 

The house, their meeting was scheduled in, was between cheap bars and Karaoke places, unassuming and hidden with enough noise to drown out the sounds of fighting. The staircases reeked of things that made Kun pick up the pace, the walls sprayed with graffiti.

A bad neighbourhood, where no one would be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour and take notice of them. A place where the police were pre-occupied by rushing from bar fight to assault case and wouldn’t have time to investigate big parties of people, dressed differently than the regular clientele.

There was a buff man at the door, whose eyes permanently had a ring around the irises that spoke of bewitchment. Only one grab on their wrists to prove the missing heartbeat as enough to make him step aside and they slipped inside.

The room was moderately filled and they curtly greeted the waiting representatives they passed to get to a free spot to watch. They didn’t have any friendships with other covens, hardly any covens had much interaction. Friendships and bonds were usually within a coven. It had already been how society had worked when Kun had been turned centuries ago, but especially since there had been this war shaking the entire supernatural world of Seoul, the covens stuck together even tighter.

Kun spotted Seulgi, Seungwan, and Sooyoung, the members of Joohyun’s coven, and also saw the members that he believed were in Gyuri’s, though he wasn’t sure.

The atmosphere was tense, to be cut with a knife. The only sounds were the greetings from newly arriving coven leaders and representatives.

The last one to arrive, on the point at 8 pm when the duel was to start and after when it’d be blatantly disrespectful to dare and show up, was Song Qian followed by Amber Liu. It was still a pity to him, that it was some of the few Chinese vampires in Seoul that had to be like this. Some said she was just a puppet to Soojung pulling the strings, but Kun didn’t think so. Qian didn’t have to bow to someone younger than her and below her in status. She had to have her own motives, her own greed for power.

Joohyun stepped in from the side door, Gyuri came from the other and the only sound in the room was their shoes on the naked concrete floor.

“Welcome.” Joohyun’s face was warm and beautiful as she smiled into the crowd. “Thank you for coming. I know there’s been too many of these meetings recently. But we have to follow tradition, don’t we? Anyone should have a fair chance for a duel.”

Her eyes were on Qian but he wasn’t interested in that. Everyone knew it was Qian trying to push her off her throne.

Instead, Kun tried to get a clear impression of Gyuri.

Where Joohyun was relaxed and smiling, her face was set in a scowl, body tense. So, she wasn’t expecting to win. Which would give her a mental disadvantage. The insecurity could stem from rational reasons, such as being younger and less skilled, or she was just anxious. Even a younger vampire wasn’t automatically set to lose. If they were able to turn what they had learnt about Joohyun’s fighting style over the last duels against her.

But it didn’t seem like she had a plan like that.

“Now, may I please hear from Gyuri’s coven members that they pledge loyalty to her for everyone present to witness?”

The six women Kun had spotted earlier stepped forward and reassured their trust in their leader, as it was custom, followed by Joohyun’s members doing the same.

Joohyun nodded and looked around the room. “I was born in 1623. Is anyone present older than that, then please put up your hand.”

It was routine at this point, the outcome already known before anyone raised their hands. Kun raised his, as did a couple of other vampires like every time. There weren’t that many over the age of 100 in the overall vampire population, but usually the oldest member would become leader of the coven, which was why there were relatively many of them here.

And, like every time, Im Jaebum as the oldest vampire present was made put bewitchment on the coven members, which would compel them to not move should their leader lose their fight – for both covens.

It was basically a death sentence for one of the groups.

The crowd cleared the middle, where the two leaders stepped up, facing each other.

Joohyun was small, petite, pretty, but she had taken down men more than a head taller than her over the last weeks. One of the two would go down and Kun was relatively sure, from just his visual assessment and analysis of what he could conclude from it, that it wouldn’t be her.

He slipped into an indifferent mindset. One, that would allow him to handle this without too much moral conflict.

Now, Taeyong was usually a sweet and soft-spoken person. With a face like his, to top it off, you’d expect him to maybe even cry watching things as gruesome as a duel would become. But he was very good at distancing himself and handling violence. That was why Kun had not hesitated to ask him where he hadn’t even considered asking Jungwoo.

That Jaehyun had a sadistic side to himself was no news. A well-controlled one, luckily, but he wouldn’t even flinch when someone thrust a hand through another vampire’s chest. He was the person Kun could rely on as company if he didn’t have a shift at the hospital keeping him away.

 

Jaebum opened the duel and Kun watched Joohyun utterly dominate the fight start to finish.

Another seven vampires fewer to worry over for the United Hunting Force Against Supernatural Attacks South Korea, aka Police Department 4.

Another seven lives wasted in a petty fight for power.

 

 

“ _Hello_!” Kun startled so badly he nearly dropped the scissors, he had used to cut white ribbons in preparation for the flowers they’d have to bind for a massive wedding tomorrow.

“ _Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you! So, my Fairy Chairs are doing super well! I have a photo of them! They’re on my dresser_!” Dejun hopped across the store, phone in hand and Kun quickly put the scissors to a safe place. Accidentally stabbing customers wasn’t good for the reputation. No matter how surprised by their presence you were.

A phone was shoved under Kun’s nose and he pushed it away a bit to see the Lithops doing wonderfully on a dresser. They had a colourful pot and the bud seemed to have opened a bit.

“ _They look well. Is the blossom coming along_?” Kun asked and glanced at Dejun. His lashes were deep black and thick, intensifying the sharpness of his eyes. His tracksuit was wine red today. Or it used to be when it had been new.

“ _Yes, I think so. I play lots of Mozart, I think they like it. I also tried to lure in more Fairies, but I wasn’t lucky yet.”_

_“Ah. How about ants?”_

_“Also a no. But I’m sure one of them will eventually follow my invitation.”_

_“Yeah, probabl_ y.” Kun internally groaned and wanted to hold a speech on how to keep a room clean. But the idea of attracting fairies… that was simply too cute!

“ _Did you come to show me that_?” Kun inquired.

Dejun turned off his phone and sighed. “ _Kinda. I was really happy over that, and I also really needed a break from the lab. My measurements came out very differently from how I needed them to be and it’s already been my third try_.”

“ _Oh, that’s very understandable. Taking a break is a good idea. Do you want to stay for a bit? Take your mind off things, so you can go back and have a fresh start?”_

 _“You don’t mind? Am I not bothering you_?” Dejun seemed excited at the idea, so much it spread to Kun, who smiled back.

“ _Oh no, I don’t have to think a lot to prepare these ribbons, wait, let me grab you a chair_.”

Kun hurried to the back and returned to Dejun carefully sniffing the pink roses.

“ _Ah, thanks. These are really pretty. Roses, right?”_

_“Correct.”_

_“What are the ribbons for? A wedding? Because they’re white?”_

_“Yes, a Spring wedding. Those are popular, we have many commissions for them.”_

Dejun quietly watched him cut ribbons at the exact same length for a few minutes, until Kun ran out of ribbon and started counting. 100 pieces, he was done. At least with this type.

“ _You said you like to travel, right?”_

_“Hm, yes.”_

_“Where else have you been? But South-Korea, I mean_.” Dejun leaned his chin on the desk and looked up at Kun through his thick lashes. He had such pretty eyes… expressive, too.

“ _Uh. Many places_.” Kun had travelled more than a human usually did in their lifetime.

“ _Which is your favourite place_?”

Kun hummed and put aside the wedding-checklist to think.

“ _All places I’ve been have different beauty, choosing one over the other is impossible.”_

 _“But there has to be one that is the most beautiful, or interesting_.”

Kun furrowed his brows in thought.

“ _If we’re talking about abroad, then Italy maybe?”_

 _“You went to Italy? That’s so far! Did you see the Colosseum and the leaning tower_?”

Kun couldn’t hold a laugh, as he picked the list back up. “ _Of course, I did. But those aren’t the only magnificent places Italy has to offer.”_

 _“Ah, I guess. I wish I could go and see the world. Ah, well. I’ll just focus on my thesis_.” Dejun nodded to himself.

“ _You said you were stuck. Where? Maybe I can give you a pointer?”_

_“Uh, well, it’s Biochemistry, so I don’t know…”_

_“I studied Biochemistry, so I think I’ll know what you’re talking about_ ,” Kun spoke before thinking and immediately regretted it. His little constructed life suddenly seemed very wobbly, because…

“ _Really? Why are you working at a flower shop then?”_

_“Uh…”_

_“Or is it the job market? As a foreigner it’s hard, right?”_

_“Yeah. Very hard_.” Dodged the bullet. Kun took a deep breath. He had to be more careful with what he offered. This wasn’t a coven member or another vampire he met at his regulars’ table for Chinese.

“ _That’s why I want to stay in research. So I can work on the synthetic blood for as long as possible.”_

_“You seem really set on that.”_

_“Ah, yes. I told you, it could be used in therapy. I’d like to support that.”_ Dejun’s eyes lost the spark they seemed to carry permanently and Kun quickly changed the topic, not wanting to see him so subdued.

“ _Hey, if you don’t mind, do you have a moment to help me with the pearl ribbon maybe?”_

 _“Pearls?_ ” Dejun perked up in interest.

“ _Yes, this type_.” Kun held the ribbon in question up and the spark returned to Dejun’s eyes when he nodded.

 

 

“Kun!”

Someone jumped onto his back from behind and Kun groaned and grabbed the arms that wrapped around his throat tightly. Not like he could choke - but a normal person had a pulse point there.

“Hey Chenle. How’re you doing?”

“Super-duper well! I got a 99% on my last Chinese test.”

“That’s great!” Kun tried to pry the high schooler off his back, but he was like a leech once stuck.

“I know!” Chenle hollered into his ear. “Even Renjun congratulated me. Though he said “wow you’re not a total moron for once.” So I’m not sure that’s a compliment. But you have to take what you get. So, thank you for helping me so much!”

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Kun smiled to himself. Quite honestly, he had been a bit overwhelmed with the mass of children invading Ten’s house, where he spent a lot of his time meaning he was faced with keeping them entertained soon.

Children were cute, but children were never vampires.

A vampire froze in time, meaning their mind would freeze, too, the level of maturing it could reach was limited and children still were meant to grow a lot. Back in China, it was frowned upon to turn a child, as they never lived for long, developing self-destructing tendencies within a few months or years.

Here, you wouldn’t get the allowance you needed to turn someone. A vampire turned without it would be killed to avoid the population getting out of hand.

So, Kun hadn’t really interacted much with them over the past centuries and had been slightly freaked out at first.

When Chenle had asked him if he was good at Hanzi and if he could help him out, because learning them alongside studying Korean to become fluent was hard, Kun had obviously agreed and found out that they weren’t as difficult to handle as he had feared. So, he had started to mother the kids with a lot of enthusiasm, even though four of them already graduated and attending college this year.

Chenle finally got off his back and produced the test, no doubt to show around the whole coven.

 

Next to babying kids, Kun hosted a regulars’ table once a month for all Chinese vampires in Seoul. He had started it only four months ago, when Joohyun had come into power and doing it wouldn’t make anyone assume he was planning a bloody revolution anymore. Which definitely wasn’t the goal.

He had guilt-tripped Junmyeon into letting them do it at a backroom of EXO, the club run by Junmyeon and his pack, because Kun and his coven had helped them out while the Hunters were trying to catch the murderer roaming Seoul last year. And because his second in command, Kris, had been the one to rat out Yuta to the cops.

In turn, the wolves with Chinese roots from his pack were welcome to join, since the whole group was pretty tiny. Due to the clique-like structure of their society, many covens were not interested in making new acquaintances.

“ _Dude, like, did you know that Dracula, the weirdo all these vampire stuff is based off, put his enemies heads on poles and build forests with it? To scare off more enemies_?” Lucas's eyes were wide and he waved his hands to give his story more impact. “ _Doyoungie told me._ ”

“ _I did know that, to be honest,_ ” Kun nodded.

“ _Ah, for once I think I tell you something new_.” Lucas frowned.

“ _Come on, Xuxi, everyone knows about Dracula, the old sadist_.” Meiqi slapped her hand on the table with a hearty laugh. Two more girls had entered right behind her and smiled into the round before finding seats to settle on.

“ _Seriously, though, making a forest from heads? No wonder the Hunters hate us so much if they think that’s how we spend our free time._ ” Lucas whined, still trying to sell his knowledge as new.

 _“You plant forests now? Where? Can I visit?_ ” Kunhang, who just came through the door, asked in slight confusion and Lucas rubbed his face.

“ _No_!”

“ _Well, maybe we could gain public favour, you know… save the trees_?” Chengxiao suggested, looking quite serious.

 _“I like forests_!” Sicheng unhelpfully supplied and before Kun could stir back to a more reasonable topic, everyone on the table was already discussing if the government would be pleased if they planted trees on Gwanghwamun Square.

“ _Hey. While the others are still rambling, do you have a second?_ ” Xuanyi softly asked while Chengxiao pulled out a pen and paper to draw up the forest in the middle of Seoul. There hadn’t even been any alcohol served yet.

“ _Sure_.”

“ _Sojung had us sit down for a coven meeting regarding the situation with Joohyun and Soojung_.” Xuanyi was usually very upbeat, but her eyes were serious now.

“ _What were you discussing_?”

“ _Well, you know we’re neutral. But recently, Sunyoung has been offering us to include us on their blood list_.”

A blood list was used to distribute bagged blood, the safest way to feed. Getting on them could be tricky and Kun was most lucky to have not only one but three medical professionals with indirect access to blood banks to steal from. It wasn’t ideal, but they had to live.

A place on a list was a bait very hard to turn down because it could offer the coven safety, that was needed so much these days, where staying undetected was becoming harder every week, or so it felt.

“ _Did you agree?”_

“ _No. But she’s quite insistent and she mentioned how disrespectful it was to turn it down._ ” Xuanyi clenched a fist.

“ _Hm, threatening you to not get on their bad side, for when they might take over? That’s low_.”

“ _Yes, it is. But it’s a real danger. You know how Taeyeon was. But who tells us they won’t do the same? It’s risky.”_

_“And how can I help you? You know we’re on Joohyun’s side, and Qian and her girls know that, too.”_

_“Do you think it’s safe to be on her side?_ ” Xuanyi asked, eyes hard.

“ _I won’t give you a definite answer on that, Xuanyi, that’s much too risky. I don’t want your leader or your coven against mine if I give you poor advice_.”

“ _Smart_.”

“ _I was one of the royal advisors for several Qing and I’m a lawyer,_ ” Kun smirked.

“ _Alright. Since you’re not moving, I’m going to take that as it being safe enough for you decide on that.”_

“I _t’s not just that I think Joohyun has a very good position and is a strong opponent, but it’s about principles here, too. I like her approaches and I know Soojung, I can guess what her ideas would be. I’ve lived in quiet for long enough_.”

“ _Say… why aren’t you challenging her? You’re older than her, you’re trained…”_

“ _Please, I barely have my coven under control. I’m not fit to rule over Seoul. But I don’t want to live in tyranny eithe_ r.”

“ _Hm_ …” Xuanyi eyed him, before turning and joining the conversation, that had shifted over to the art of blending Korean Barbecue.

“ _No, guys, you have to add the soybean paste to make it more liquid. Water ruins any blended food, only amateurs use water.”_ Kunhang supplied with a shake of his head and Lucas was writing the wise words down a bit too furiously for Kun’s liking.

Maybe he should buy a blender, so Yuta could make his smoothies in pace…

 

 

The next time Dejun came, Kun wasn’t even that surprised anymore. His hoodie didn’t colour match the sweatpants today, mixing soft pink and black, and looked relatively new. It was cute. Dejun was cute.

“ _Hi_.” he waved at Kun, who was spraying water on moss.

_“Hey. Stuck again?”_

“ _More like still. I tried what you told me and stuff got better, but I think I’m on a dead end. It’s really annoying because I’m actually not far along at all yet and already hitting a dead end_.” Dejun pouted and smelled on the violas. He seemed to like the scent.

_“Well, blood is extremely complex, to begin with, even if you’re purely focussed on white blood cells. Getting stuck is natural. Do you have an alternative to start from?”_

_“Yeah, I have a few ideas. I’d have to work them out a bit, to see which one could work. How’s the job hunting?”_

Kun almost asked what job hunting. Thankfully he remembered before going ahead and being an idiot.

“ _Uh… not so great. Thanks for asking.”_

_“Aw, bummer. How was the wedding last week?”_

_“Stressful, but successful. The bride was very happy and the stack for business cards was almost gone, when we picked the buckets up.”_

_“So you’ll get more business out of it?”_

_“Exactly. Mouth to mouth works best.”_

_“Like in reanimation._ ” Dejun giggled and Kun had to smile when he saw the happy expression on his face. “ _Oh, I made new photos of my succulent. It’s blooming! It’s so pretty. And I might have had a fairy visiting. I’m not sure, there’s too little reports on them visiting anyone for me to know if I’m interpreting the signs right.”_

_“Say, aren’t fairies known to be… mischievous and borderline evil?”_

_“Mischievous, sure, but I’m sure they’re misunderstood! Like ghosts and vampires! Oh, and recently, I watched some very interesting videos on the existence of werewolves, too, so maybe those exist, too. Which is another reason why I want this to work! If vampires could feed on synthetic blood, people wouldn’t have to worry about getting jumped and they could maybe be like normal humans. Just… immortal_.”

Kun couldn’t hold the smile at that. It wasn’t like anyone got jumped, but how should Dejun know that? The efforts were… really moving. It was extremely rare to see humans open to the idea of vampires being among them.

“ _Have you met a vampire, or why do you believe in their existence_?” Kun inquired. Because Taeil, before he had gotten turned, had met a vampire as a child – it happened to be Sicheng, but that wasn’t important – and had his life saved by him, which was why he had been vampire-friendly before becoming one.

“ _No, unfortunately not. At least not knowingly. I mean, for all I know, you could be a vampire and just not tell me. I mean, you couldn’t, because the government made you keep it a secret, but yeah_.” Dejun nodded and Kun thought maybe he should tell him that he couldn’t stay here anymore.

But he looked very pretty in this pink hoodie… surely Dejun wouldn’t actually catch on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Kun doesn’t only have adopted sons, but he has his own turnee, too. Hehe. Guess who…?
> 
> Just a quick fyi: I have nothing against f(x) at ALL. But we need an antagonist, someone had to be the bad one, so I’m sorry if you’re upset with the part I gave them. The same goes for SoShi, who were problematic in the prequels. Oh, and Irene’s coven only has OT4, because Yerim was unfortunately killed in the prequels. I also love Yerim, she’s adorable and fun and I wanted to write her in, but we have to respect the timeline.
> 
> I said this before, and it’s still true, 21 people is t o o m a n y to properly write for me, so I have to kind of focus on a few, like I did in all parts of this series. I wanted to make Hendery more important, but his personality is a bit hard for me to properly characterise yet and I don’t want to do him dirty, so he might stay back, at least for now. The Dreamies are also still stuck getting the short end of the stick in this AU for now, just as a warning and I’m already sorry.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who didn’t read the series, Lucas, Dongyoung and Jungwoo are in an open relationship, so Lucas is free to flirt and sleep around as much as he pleases without that meaning he’s cheating – just so no one thinks we’re doing adultery here, that’s a hard no for me.
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

Kun did not appreciate coming home to seeing Dongyoung pressed up against the wall, Jungwoo balls-deep in his boyfriend. But there had also been worse things to witness in his life, so Kun just sighed, put his shoes away in a hurry and darted to his room, while Dongyoung whined about embarrassment but didn’t manage to get Jungwoo off and out of him.

 

He was halfway through the reports on the developments of KOSPI, Dow Jones, SSE, and DAX when his phone vibrated and Jungwoo informed him that they were done.

How kind.

Kun pulled off his noise-cancelling headphones and went to make himself a tea – because drinking coffee past 8 pm didn’t do well for his sleep. He watched the water slowly take a deeper and deeper colour of brow-green, the scent of the leaves getting stronger as the aroma passed into the liquid.

“Hey, Kun, do you have a second?” Jungwoo appeared in the kitchen door, hair dripping wet.

“Sure. A second, or a second?”

“Uh… can we sit in your room?” The kitchen in Kun’s flat was tiny and didn’t have much besides the fridge full of blood and the holy coffee machine.

“Yeah.”

 

“So, I was just a bit worried. Because of Qian.” Jungwoo bit his lower lip.

“Why exactly?”

“Well, since she’s my sire?” Jungwoo fumbled with his shirt. “I don’t know… I kind of owe her my life… I told you, I was terminally ill. I might already be dead, hadn’t she turned me.”

“That’s right. But she did it because she owed someone else a favour not because she cared about you specifically, so you’re even.”

“But… can’t she… like… make me do stuff?” Kun chuckled and shook his head, the words reminding him very strongly of the conversation with Taeyong and Jaehyun just a few days ago.

“Only if you let her bewitch you. The rumour of blood bonds and sire-turnee dependence is really hard to get rid of, huh?”

“So, it’s really just a rumour?”

“Yes. 100%. If you feel like you owe her I can’t make you drop that thought, but I disagree. And you can freely choose who you stick with.”

“I’ll be with you, of course.”

Kun smiled and reached over to pat Jungwoo’s cheek.

“Well, then be with us and that’ll be the end of that.”

“Okay. How do you know this?”

“Well, I am sort of old.” Kun laughed “And I had a sire, too, and never once felt any of that. And I have a turnee, who also didn’t feel the need to follow my every word. Or really any of my words.”

“Oh. Right. Yongie mentioned that you had one. Are they still in China?”

“Oh, no, he’s in Europe right now. I think I passed the travelling-gene on.”

“Do you stay in touch? I never knew!”

Kun shrugged. “Just how Yuta has his former coven he’s still in touch with, but doesn’t share that with us much, I have him. But yes, I stay in touch. I’m glad for modern communication devices because I sometimes miss him.” Kun smiled and Jungwoo pouted.

“I feel bad I didn’t really know about him when he’s important to you. What’s his name? Do you have a photo? Where did you meet him and why did you turn him?”

Kun stood to get his phone from his desk and pulled up WeChat and the recent conversation to show the profile picture to an eager Jungwoo.

“Oh, he’s cute! His smile is so pretty.”

“Ah, yes. It is. His name’s Yangyang. And I met him because he fled from his arranged marriage and talked me into taking him with me as I was leaving the city.”

“Talked you into as in he asked you once and you adopted him?” Jungwoo softly asked with a knowing smile.

“Maybe. Anyway, I turned him after a few years. It was like a platonic soul mate and he loved and still loves travelling as much as me, so he asked me to. I sometimes regretted it, when he teased me to hell and back.” Kun laughed, but not meaning it. He never really regretted it.

“Why isn’t he here then? If that’s not… sensitive.”

Kun tapped the blanket under his fingers and stared out the window.

“Ah, no, it’s not. Just a bit… unfortunate. He fell in love, in 1941, and wanted to settle down with her. I didn’t see any problem with that, but the settled lifestyle wasn’t for me back then. I wouldn’t have ever settled down, I think, if I hadn’t been forced to. So, he stayed in Taipei, while I went to Shenyang and then to Korea. That’s how we ended up like this. The love didn’t last, it wasn’t meant to be, and Yangyang said, he’d come to here, that he’d figure it out. But I didn’t want him to, feeling like this was a punishment that I didn’t want for him.”

“So… it’s no longer a punishment, right?”

“No, it hasn’t been for years, don’t worry. But I don’t regret telling him not to come, because he’s very happy and we’re still talking more frequently than we used to even since we no longer have to wait forever for letters to arrive.”

“That’s good then. And about Qian, I’ll be definitely against her and her coven, if it comes to it.”

“That’s nice. But we don’t have to take her on, I hope.”

“Well… in case we do, though. I paid good attention during Sicheng’s martial arts lessons!” Jungwoo punched the air with a serious expression.

“Good to know. I heard the shower stop, maybe you want to check on Dongyoung?”

Jungwoo nodded and hopped off the bed. “I have to massage him, you know how he still gets extremely sore and grumpy…”

“I didn’t need to know that.” Kun sighed and watched the younger waltz out the door.

 

“ _Chenle! I’m so happy you’re here today! I forgot there were other people working in this shop. When I came yesterday and met an older lady I was so scared, really silly of me._ ” Dejun was in a dark blue tracksuit today, his hair pulled into a palm-tree on his head.

Kun worriedly thought back. Had something possibly gotten spilt regarding his true identity? But Dejun seemed unbothered and Mrs Wang hadn’t mentioned anything. It should be fine.

“ _How are the Fairy Chairs doing_?” Kun hid his panic over the fake identity with a genuine question.

“ _Wonderfully! Though the blossom is gone. I make sure to gently pet them every evening and I think they enjoy Tchaikovsky_.” Dejun dreamily explained like he referred to a dog. It was cute. Not to mention how beautiful his smile was.

“ _Did you get to do your new testing yet_?” Kun asked curiously.

_“Ah, well, no. But that’s actually why I’m here. I feel a bit shameless for asking this, but you were such a major help, I don’t have any friends, and my supervising professor is a bit hard to get a hold of so… if you don’t mind, would you maybe look over my new idea?”_

Kun’s heart sunk when Dejun said he didn’t have any friends. How was that possible? He was such a wonderful person, Kun had only known him for a few short weeks, but he could tell already. Not to mention he was stunningly handsome - completely objectively speaking, of course.

_“I can absolutely do that. Do you have a print-out?”_

“ _Yes, I brought one! Thank you so much, it means a lot_!” Dejun hurriedly put his backpack down on the work-desk and unzipped it. Kun finished refilling the cut tulips’ water while Dejun dug through the bag in search of the print-outs. It was already getting late into their season and they’d soon be replaced with early summer flowers.

Kun accepted the small stack of papers and quickly flipped through them. He hadn’t been in the field for about 20 years, but he never forgot, just got rusty.

“ _Can you give me a day to look through it properly_?” he asked, once he had seen the last page.

_“Of course, take all the time you need. Okay, no, not all the time, I’m on a schedule. But a day is totally fine. Thank you so much! Hey, can I get your phone number maybe? So I don’t have to come here and hope you’re working?”_

Dejun was fiddling with his phone.

_“Good idea! That’s really not very practical to begin with, that you always have to seek me out. Do you have WeChat? Or Kakao? Line?”_

_“I have WeChat.”_

Perfect, because then Kun wouldn’t have to alter his identity on the others, too, and get Ten chewing his ear off because he failed to obey his own number one rule.

 

Kun finished his shift and went to get Yuta the watermelon he ‘desperately needed’. He ended up staying on the kitchen table in Ten’s flat, the TV running with National Geographic in the living room, and Yuta picking out the seed from the watermelon so he could blend it without getting crunchy, disgusting extras. It was a good atmosphere to work in, better than the quiet of his own place. He knew it would be empty and silent since Lucas was here on the sofa with Dongyoung, attention on the TV, and Jungwoo still at work.

“What are you reading? A paper? What on?” Taeil slipped into the chair next to his. Kun looked up from his phone, where he had been looking up a term he was unfamiliar with. Technology had gotten a lot different in 20 years, and so had the scientific working methods.

“In the big picture, it’s about making synthetic blood,” Kun explained and turned his phone off again.

“The research you did you told me about?” Taeil inquired, looking into the print-outs in interest.

“Yes, that. Apparently, they picked it back up, but it seems to be fresh or confidential because there haven’t been any publications on it yet.”

“And where’s that from? Looks like a lab-plan.”

“Oh, I’m just going over to see if the methods seem fitting for the data that he hopes to measure. It’s nowhere close to a result yet.”

Taeil peeked at the pages Kun had already gone through and had left a few short remarks on.

“That looks extensive. But that doesn’t answer the question where you got this from? Or did you change jobs without telling us?”

“If you did, I’ll make a scene because of broken trust,” Yuta announced, looking a bit insane from how he looked up with his head still lowered, the big kitchen knife in hand.

“I didn’t. I got involved in a conversation with a customer, because he sounded Chinese, and it turned out he’s a biochemistry student, working on his Master thesis. He asked if I could look over it.”

“It’s not the same one that asked you if you were Qian Kun, no?” Yuta still had the kitchen knife in his hand and he tried to sound nonchalant.

“Uh. Yes, it is?”

The Japanese raised his eyebrows and Taeil wrinkled his nose.

“That doesn’t sound very… safe. To spend more time with him.”

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t suspect me. And if something were to come out, I could still make him forget.” Kun reassured them.

“Well, you better. I know you love to adopt new people, but… be careful.” Yuta waved the knife and Kun involuntarily jerked backwards, despite being metres away.

“Of course I am.”

“In the meantime, this is very interesting research. Imagine if that worked! We could stop stealing the donated blood close to expiring. And people who have a rare blood type wouldn’t face so much trouble in therapy.” Taeil excitedly pointed out.

“Exactly.”

“As long as that stuff isn’t gross,” Yuta muttered darkly. He was the only vampire Kun knew, that exclusively drank type B blood and didn’t like the taste of pure blood.

“I’m mainly concerned about surviving, but yes.” Taeil drily commented.

 

The further Kun read into the outline, the more it itched in fingers to go to a laboratory and put the plans into action. Too bad he couldn’t.

Instead, he texted Dejun that he was finished the next morning and if he wanted him to drop the printouts off at his dorm or lab.

 

So, Kun found himself on the campus of Korea University an hour later, wondering where on earth he had to head to. But he’d rather get lost in Anam than have someone recognise him at Seoul National where he used to study and work, so thank god Dejun didn’t go there.

No one even looked at him twice as he slowly searched for the dorm number 43. He blended in with the actual students seamlessly. After a few more fails, he found block 40. From there it was a walk in the park and Kun called Dejun to let him know he was waiting downstairs at the security desk.

When the elevator opened to reveal a small man in a panda pyjama-set, Kun wasn’t even surprised. Really, if he left the house in tracksuits 7 days of the weeks, why even bother when he didn’t leave? Not to mention it looked adorable.

“ _Hi Chenle! Wow, you really were so quick, I didn’t expect you do finish before the evening_!” Dejun came over, the hem of his pants dragging over the floor a bit. “ _Thank you so much, again!_ ”

_“It was very interesting! So much progress has been made.”_

_“Huh? Progress? Do you know the old research?”_

Kun bit his tongue but kept his smile on “ _Uh, yeah, after you talked about it, I got curious. Anyway, uh, I wrote a few remarks into your text, but I’m sure you’ll do well with this outline. Let me know, when you got your results, okay?”_

“ _Yeah, I’ll make sure to let you know_!” Dejun nodded eagerly and Kun felt himself ache a little at the thought that he had said to have no friends… such a bright and cute person… “ _If it doesn’t bother you.”_

_“Huh? No, it doesn’t bother me! I’m curious! And if it did, I wouldn’t have asked.”_

_“Okay. Just making sure. I know I can be a little… annoying.”_

Kun furrowed his brows and shook his head. “ _You’re definitely not. Don’t worry.”_

 _“Haven’t heard that in a while. Oh, by the way, I got a cockroach that’s very happy with the honey_.” Dejun beamed and Kun swallowed the need to spontaneously throw up.

_“And you’ll keep that now?”_

_“Of course. If it wants to stay with me, that is. It’s very pretty, too. I’ll send you a photo later! I hope it won’t scare off the fairies though. That’d be unfortunate. But the roach was there first, so it’s their home now.”_

_“Wonderful to hear you got company_.” There wasn’t that much that really grossed Kun out. But cockroaches… NO.

 

So, Kun’s phone filled with many, many photos of Lithops and a cockroach. Then came photos from the lab, or outputs from the different tests Dejun ran, questions on research mixing into questions over if chocolate or vanilla ice cream was better, and before he knew it, they were discussing new music releases and movies they wanted to see.

The chat with Dejun was longer than the one of the coven, that regularly got spammed by Yuta and Lucas, filled with photos of flowers in the university gardens and with new articles on conspiracy theories on supernatural beings from Dejun, while Kun sent recipes for healthy smoothies (possibly stolen from Yuta) and the “daily traditional character” for Dejun to learn.

He knew Dejun’s whole collection of tracksuits after a few weeks, during which he dropped by the flower shop frequently, and his collection of animal printed pyjamas, from when Kun brought corrected reports back to the dorm on Korean University campus, or fertiliser for the ‘Fairy Chairs’.

He also knew Dejun liked anything sugary and sweet, but was lactose intolerant, much to his own frustration. There was hardly anything that damped his permanent good mood and even when late April got warm enough to ditch jackets, he stayed bundled up in his washed-out hoodies.

The only thing that seemed to genuinely stress him was time, something Kun never worried over.

Kun wasn’t sure if it was the deadline of his Master thesis, because that still was so far away with months of research left to do, and despite the occasional setback he was making great process. It was almost like he personally wanted to finish this sooner, rather than later. Only Kun wasn’t sure why. Asking felt like crossing a border, that Kun couldn’t cross. Not when he wasn’t even honest about his real name, his species, everything.

Another thing he notices was, that Dejun was hard to say no to. Kun generally didn’t like denying people, but Dejun… he wanted to spoil him, wrap him up, and hug him, all the time. So, whenever he fell into a rant about a new article he had read on his favourite past-time topic – supernaturals - all Kun could do was listen, nod and sometimes ask soft questions if he was really sure about this when he knew he should be telling Dejun he was delusional. Or, even better, bewitch him so he’d forget about the topic altogether.

Only, the sparkle in his eyes that was even brighter while his words started getting thick with Canton accent, his hands flying while he explained how vampires might be able to resist garlic. And all Kun could do, was stare and want him to go on forever.

It wasn’t until Mrs Wang was there while Kun explained how the different colours of roses each meant something different to Dejun, that he realised which road he had accidentally gone down.

“Aigoo, I feel the need to give you a few pink roses to give to this young gentleman.” Mrs Wang smiled when Kun had sent Dejun off.

Kun froze at the door. Pink roses, for young love?

“Don’t worry, I don’t judge because of that. Love is love. Can you give me a hand with the pot here?”

 

Love. Was he in love? Kun hadn’t been in love often in his life. And it had been a while since as he was too focussed on first taking care of Yangyang and then his coven.

But wasn’t Dejun just another junior to him? Maybe similar to Chenle, as both of them couldn’t find out about Kun’s secret?

Or was he actually in love? How had that happened?

He tried telling himself that it was actually nothing serious. It was just… his mother-hen-mode. In the special Xiao-Dejun-Edition. Totally. And when that didn’t work, he simply started ignoring it, distracting himself with everyday tasks from the little spark of excitement that he felt every time he received another text from Dejun, or he came into the shop, dressed in yet another old tracksuit that he managed to look stunning in.

 

And a distraction came. Well, maybe a little less dramatic would have done, but Kun would take it.

“Qian openly challenged Joohyun for a duel.” Kun looked around the small circle of the members of the coven. There were mixed reactions to the announcement, reaching from understanding nodding (Sicheng, Ten, Jaehyun), to surprise (Dongyoung, Taeil, Yuta), to worried looks (Taeyong, Jungwoo, Lucas).

“When?” Ten asked, straight to the point.

“In three weeks. I don’t know why they’ll take so much time, but maybe Qian’s hoping to mobilise more supporters in the meanwhile.”

“Kunhang said the leader of his coven was thinking about joining her, instead of Joohyun. Because she’s a bit more likely to win, he said.” Lucas supplied. Kun frowned.

“His coven is in favour of Joohyun right now, though. Changing sides now… that’s an awful idea! If Qian wins – fine, whatever, but if Joohyun wins, his pledge will be very questionable.” Yuta complained. Going with the flow like that seemed dishonourable, if Kun was being honest, so he had to agree with Yuta. Just stay neutral if you wanted to extra sure!

“But Kun, don’t you think Joohyun is more likely to overlook it? She’s not searching to hold power through fear and total submission.” Jaehyun chipped in.

“Do you want to change sides, too?” Yuta asked, arms crossed and face dark.

“No. I’m just saying.”

“Guys, it’s important to speak your mind, we should discuss this.” Kun cut in as Yuta took a deep breath for his comeback and the Japanese deflated.

“Right. Sorry.”

“Xuanyi talked to me last month, too, how her coven was offered a place on a blood list by Sunyoung.”

“That’s just sad.” Taeil wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“Whatever it is, it’s clear that Qian and her coven are an attractive option for many. We should try and stay out of this drama as much as possible until everything has been decided.” Kun said.

“Like usually.” Ten nodded in agreement. They had always stepped back and watched, holding their tongues to avoid negative consequences from hasty decisions and poorly worded opinions. Kun wanted to keep it that way. They already were openly in favour of Joohyun, he didn’t want to take more risks than that.

“Can I still talk to Henny about it?”

“Of course you can. Before we change the topic – this duel isn’t some pretty event, it’s important and I think it’ll be appropriate to be in full attendance.” Kun eyed those who hated the violent meetings – Taeil and Jungwoo. But he also noticed Yuta stiffening and reaching for Sicheng’s hand. “Will that be alright with you? You don’t have to watch, it’s just about being there should the power shift.”

Some members easily nodded, giving their approval, others took a bit. Yuta needed some coaxing from Sicheng, who spoke in a voice too soft for Kun to hear, but then he also agreed reluctantly.

“Good. And let’s hope that the city can settle for good after that.” Kun sighed deeply. Wait, but did Kun want peace? Then he had time to think about… things… he also didn’t want that.

 

One of Kun’s problems was… ever since Mrs Wang’s words, he had become hyper-aware of Dejun and trying to ignore it was difficult.

Like today. Dejun was in a sweatshirt of Korea Uni, that was still a bright red and made his smile even brighter. His hair was dull, it always was, but that didn’t take from his beauty at all.

“Seriously, Chenle, this time, you have to believe they’re real. Look at this! These are photos from the national park, just outside Seoul, that hikers took of these huge, huge wolves.”

Dejun turned his phone screen, so Kun could look at the blotchy pictures of what could be anything between a stain on the lens, the Yeti, or a werewolf. It could very well be the latter because all Seoul based packs used the forests around the city to run in their other form on a regular basis.

“Uh, well… I don’t see anything on here, I think?” Kun pretended to be oblivious.

“Look, here’re the ears and in this picture, you can see a tail, too!” Dejun looked up. His previously flawless skin had started getting dark circles under the eyes over the last days, and today he was looking very pale.

“Say, Dejun, are you sleeping enough?” Kun asked and reached forward to check the boy’s temperature. His hand was cold on the human’s forehead, but that was to be expected. Vampires always ran a bit colder, depending on when they had fed the last time. He seemed to not be too warm, though, and Kun carefully pressed his hand against his cheek for another check. Also normal.

Dejun had frozen and was staring at him with wide eyes, his heartbeat picking up a bit, and Kun retracted his hand.

“No fever. Did you eat today?”

“I… had ramen for breakfast?”

Kun looked up at the wall clock. It was 5:45, 15 minutes until his shift ended. “Do you have the evening off? Then I’ll take you to have something proper to eat after I finish. Ramen isn’t healthy! Or do you have to work on your thesis?” Kun fixed Dejun in a serious stare. He didn’t look as pale anymore…

“I’m free.” Dejun breathed and nodded.

 

So, Kun found himself at a Barbecue place 30 minutes later, chewing on his meat for ten minutes a piece, so he’d at least make it home before his body was going to go on a strike. Vampire metabolism wasn’t equipped to deal with anything solid, which was why Lucas and Kunhang had developed the unholy art of blending everything.

Dejun was a little faster, but not even nearly as desperate as Kun would have expected a broke college student that hadn’t eaten all day to be. Maybe he was starting to stress himself out too much over the thesis? At the moment the research was going smoothly, though, and he was already so far ahead, he could most likely turn it in weeks early.

So, Kun couldn’t help but worry, even when they parted for different directions after the dinner was done and paid for – by Kun.

 

“Dude, and I thought people started being reasonable and not eat stuff after some time.” Lucas’ head poked into the bathroom, where Kun was busy washing his mouth.

 

Kun kept a closer eye on Dejun, but the dark circles didn’t leave. As it didn’t seem to affect his mood, Kun decided not to ask more questions. He couldn’t let himself get involved so deeply with him when he couldn’t let him into his own life.

He wanted to. But he couldn’t.

He was contemplating whether to watch the documentary on boa constrictors that Dongyoung had recommended, the Shoujo anime that Yuta had, or the new series of Sabrina, that Netflix had, when his phone ripped him from the most important decision of the evening.

“Hello?”

“Kun-Ma! How are you doing?”

“ _Yangyang? When did you learn Korean? And I told you not to call me ma_.” Kun sighed and closed his laptop, to get comfortable in bed. Yangyang loved talking and internet calls had put an end to outrageous international bills, so there was no stopping him.

“Not bad, right? I took a course at… what’s the word… a school.” Yangyang giggled, before switching back to Mandarin “ _I tried to get closer to a girl, who’s really into KPop, by studying with her. Well, it didn’t work, but the language is fun, so I want to keep learning. It’ll be my tenths, so I’m quite motivated. Imagine if I applied anywhere! It’d be so impressive_.”

_“Yeah and no one would believe you.”_

_“I could give them a demonstration then! They’d have to hire me.”_

_“Of course.”_

“ _Yes, they would! Anyway. How’s the blood-research coming along? When can I fill a box for tictacs and waltz around Berlin looking unsuspicious while munching on some fake blood tablets?”_

_“Sorry to tell you, but probably not while you’re still there.”_

_“I’m not in Berlin right now, though. I’m in Dusseldorf!”_

Kun rolled his eyes at the back-talk. Classic Yangyang.

“ _I don’t have access to everything, only what Dejun is working on, which is about replicating the cell surface markers of the monocytes in humans.”_

_“Yeah, I understood none of that.”_

_“It’ll take some more for your tick tacks to be done.”_

_“Too bad. But he isn’t suspecting you or anything?”_

_“He didn’t bring Qian Kun back up, so I hope I convinced him_.” Kun felt a pang in his heart at confirming how well he had Dejun tricked. He didn’t want to lie to him. But there was no other way…

_“Or he’s lurking. You said he’s into conspiracies.”_

_“He is, it’s really adorable. He gets so excited and mixes a little bit of reality with a bunch of the most ridiculous ideas I have ever heard. You’d think a person as smart and educated as him would be rational and discard the idea of the supernatural, but he’s so open to it and not afraid to share that, it’s his charm. I really don’t understand how he doesn’t have a huge group of friends since he’s such an interesting and wonderful person.”_

There was a moment of silence, then Yangyang burst into a coughing fit that had Kun straighten up on the bed, wanting to slap his back.

_“Yangyang, are you okay?”_

“ _Peachy_.” Yangyang rasped, as the coughing stopped. “ _I just made a shocking discovery. So I’m assuming you’ll be working with this Xiao Dejun until he finishes his thesis?”_

Kun frowned. “ _Yeah, I guess_.” Dejun seemed interested in his opinion… but once he handed it in, there wouldn’t be any reason to stay in touch… well, sure, Kun enjoyed talking about his plants, explaining flower language, he loved hearing about Dejun’s day. But the main motivation behind their interactions was the thesis and the research…

_“You don’t sound very excited at that aspect.”_

_“Don’t be silly. Tell me about where you learnt Korean instead.”_

_“Ah, that. It’s like evening classes. You pay a small fee and they have mainly people who actually do something completely different but come from the country.”_

_“Native speakers usually make good teachers. Did you study Hangeul?”_

_“Kun.”_ Yangyang whined into the phone _“I just did it for fun, you sound like my mum.”_

_“Well, did you? Reading is important!”_

_“A bit…”_

_“Well, since there’s no way into South-Korea it doesn’t really matter I guess.”_

 

Meiqi had suggested drinking games and everyone, save for Kun, had been ecstatic at the idea. Yixing and Luhan had gotten drinks – aka they had stolen five bottles of vodka from the bar and there had been no stopping them.

Kun got it. Everyone was worried, the future unsure yet again within less than a year. Drinking could make you escape that for just a little.

If he was being honest, he’d drink, too. If he didn’t get the worst hangover in the history of hangovers every single time.

Lucky for him, he was good at the games and managed to get away with only taking two shots over the evening while the tasks got more and more ridiculous and shameless. Over the duration of the games, Chengxiao took off her bra without taking anything else off, Lucas and Kunhang made out, quite intensely so, Sicheng admitted to having watched porn together with his boyfriend to set the mood before, and Yixing and Lucas let Xuanyi put her hand into both their pants, so she could confirm that the wolf was as big, despite the height difference, to the curious crowd.

When everyone, but Kun, was so drunk that even saying “pineapple pen” led to hysteric laughter, Kun quickly hid the remaining alcohol and started serving water instead. It didn’t seem like anyone noticed the difference anyway.

It was usually a bit tiring to be the only sober person in the middle of black-out drunks, but Kun had gotten used to the role, so he just patiently listened to Kunhang struggling through the story of someone mistaking him for an actor on the street this week.

It was nearing 3 am when the petite figure of Junmyeon came to the room looking a bit stressed. Thought that was his default state if Kun was being honest.

“Lu, Xing, I need one of you to translate, we have a guest who seems to have forgotten all his Korean.” Junmyeon marched over to where Yixing was with his head on Xuanyi’s lap and Luhan with his hand down Lucas pants – Kun had tried to stop them, but since Lucas was far too drunk to get it up, he had just left them to it.

“Myeonnie!” Yixing happily chirped, without moving. Luhan ignored his pack leader completely and Junmyeon looked more stressed, the poor man. Among other wolves, he had a fierce reputation, but within his pack, it seemed quite similar to Kun’s coven. He took pity on him and offered:

“You need someone to translate? I could help you out.” Kun peeled the fast asleep Kunhang off his shoulder and gently leaned him against the wall on the other side.

“Yes, that’d be amazing. I usually tell my bartenders to not give guests this much to drink, but Baekhyun’s never been good with knowing when to stop.” Junmyeon led Kun out into the dark room of the club, illuminated with strobe and colourful lights, the music booming from speakers scattered around everywhere. The sound quality was amazing, of course it was. This was a posh club, not just any place you’d end up at the weekend.

“The guy lying on the bar.” Junmyeon gestured to the bar, and Kun immediately knew who he was talking about and made the rest of the way alone.

“Hey.” Kun put a gentle hand on the man’s back, who reacted to his touch and looked up. Kun sucked in a sharp breath in surprise. Looking at him was Dejun, his sharp eyes accentuated with smoky shadows, the lighting in the room making the angles of his face come out even stronger, more beautifully.

“ _Chenle_!” he chirped, beaming at Kun. “ _You’re here! I’m so happy you’re here! I kept thinking of you and how much I wanted you to be here_.” The words slurred a little.

Kun patted his back “ _Yes, I’m here_.”

“ _You’re here_!” Dejun repeated like he had just figured it out. He was really drunk! Kun let him cling to his shirt in an effort of stabilising himself while contemplating what the best course of action would be.

“ _Who did you come here with?”_ Kun tried to coax out of Dejun, who was still beaming at him like he was Santa Claus.

_“Alone! I came all alone! But now you’re here!”_

“ _You went alone_?” Kun gasped.

_“Yes. I don’t have friends! But you! And Meihua, of course.”_

Meihua was the cockroach, that was living the best life any cockroach had ever lived in Dejun’s dorm room.

Kun’s heart broke just a little at the words.

“ _It’s dangerous to go all on your own_.” Kun tried to scold but regretted it when Dejun started pouting.

_“But I wanted to go clubbing once in my life! And no one would have come.”_

“ _Don’t be silly, I would have gone with you_.” Which would have probably been a terrible idea, but Kun would have done it in a heartbeat.

“ _Really_?” Dejun’s pout disappeared in favour of a bright smile. “ _You’re so super, super, super_ …” He looked for words how only a drunk person would “ _wonderful_!”

_“Thank you. Now, I think you’d best go home and into your bed, don’t you think so?”_

_“Bed! Yes! But I don’t wanna go home! I wanna be with you_!” Dejun whined and started wrapping himself around Kun. It didn’t seem like dropping him into a cab would bring good results…

 _“I’ll bring you home, okay? Hop on_.” Kun manhandled Dejun’s arms until they were around his neck and he could carry him piggy-back-style. He was light. Dejun was obviously short but he seemed to be very skinny on top.

Kun made his way back to the backroom. Sleep seemed to have taken over the drunk vampires. Meiqi and Sicheng were the only ones still going strong at a round of cards, that didn’t appear to have any rules, or a winner as they were just throwing the cards onto the table in a big stack. Meiqi also seemed to have re-discovered the vodka and the bottle was now empty. If it had been her alone or with Sicheng’s help, Kun didn’t know.

“ _Wow, there’s a back_?” Dejun slurred into Kun’s ear, his breath ghosting against the shell and making Kun’s hair stand on end.

“ _Yeah. Sicheng_?”

Kun stepped up to the table and seemed to grab the other’s attention when he looked up from his cards.

“ _Let’s go home, okay_?” Kun gently suggested. If he called someone at Ten’s place and put them into a cap, nothing too bad should happen. Lucas could either have the couch or maybe Dongyoung had mercy with his boyfriend and let him into his bed, despite the stench of alcohol.

“ _Who’s that_?” Sicheng curiously asked and Dejun’s fingers tightened on Kun’s shoulders.

_“Sicheng, this is Dejun, Dejun, this is Sicheng.”_

“ _Hey, and me_?” Meiqi asked, speech impressively clear for someone who had drunk as much as her.

_“This is Meiqi.”_

“ _Hello_.” Dejun greeted in a soft voice.

“ _Oh, Dejun? The Master thesis guy_?” Sicheng waved his hands in drunk clumsiness.

_“Yes, that Dejun. Come on Sicheng, let’s pick Lucas up and go home. I’ll tell Junmyeon to look after Kunhang. Meiqi, are you fine?”_

_“Perfectly. See you in two weeks, for doomsday.”_

Kun nodded sharply and Sicheng actually got up on wobbly legs and started pulling Luhan’s hand from Lucas’ pants and then drag the unconscious vampire along.

Kun managed to herd Sicheng with Lucas through the club while avoiding anyone squeezing Dejun on his back. The fresh air was a relief on his skin. Kun took a deep breath and looked around the street.

Well, now came the near-impossible task of getting a cap in Gangnam nights. Fun.

“ _So, you believe in Fairies_?” Sicheng asked with wide eyes as Kun held out his hand. Dejun was still on his back and clinging to him. Maybe he was shy, Kun wondered, though he hadn’t appeared like that when Kun had met him. Maybe Sicheng was more intimidating? Or it was because he was drunk?

Regardless, it felt good to be the source of safety he held onto.

_“Yes! Don’t you?”_

_“Uh. No?”_

_“But why not?”_

“ _Because they’re not real_ ,” Sicheng said matter of fact-ly.

“ _Yes, they are. They make flowers pretty_.” Dejun announced and nuzzled into Kun’s shoulder.

Sicheng had gotten closer and closer, and Kun started wondering what he was smelling for because he kept sniffing the air.

But sometimes it was like that. Vampire senses were fine, including smell, and the older you got, the better they became. Sicheng was well over 2,000 years old, Kun could only imagine what he’d be able to pick up. Sicheng loved solving puzzles, so, when he found something interesting on the street, he’d follow the track.

Instead of focussing on his coven-mate, Kun put in more effort into getting a cab and was successful after another ten minutes of intense arm-wiggling. He shoved Sicheng and the by now snoring Lucas into the backseat and told the driver the address only a few blocks away before pulling out his phone, with a bit of difficulty because of Dejun on his back, calling Yuta.

Once he was assured Yuta was going to collect his boyfriend and Lucas off the street, Kun turned his full attention back on Dejun, who had been quiet until now.

 _“Hey, how are you feeling_?” Kun gently asked. “ _Sick? Tired_?”

“ _Comfy_.” Dejun purred and rubbed his cheek against him to underline the statement.

 _“Alright, that’s good, I guess_.” Kun stared down the busy night-time traffic, not feeling very excited at the prospect of having to spend another 15 minutes finding another cab.

 _“Yes, it’s good because of you_!” Dejun pointed out, voice still slurring and Kun had to calm himself from overreacting. But he couldn’t help feeling giddy at the words.

He held out his hand, but the cab was full and sped by.

 _“Where are we going_?” Dejun asked into his ear.

_“To your dorm. So you can sleep.”_

“ _No_.” Dejun tightened his grip on Kun.

_“No? But aren’t you tired?”_

Dejun seemed to contemplate, before denying it “ _No. And I don’t wanna go. You have to be there, too. You can’t be in the dorm. So I don’t wanna be in the dorm_.”

Arguing with drunk people could make the mood drop very quickly and Kun didn’t want to upset Dejun. His own flat was so close, he wouldn’t even have to bother with a cab… Lucas wouldn’t be there and he knew Dongyoung was at Ten’s so most likely Jungwoo wouldn’t be home either… The only problem might be the blood in the fridge… but he could quickly tape that shut before going to bed.

_“Alright, how about my flat? You can sleep there.”_

Kun had a bed for decoration purposes, but mattresses were one of the modern inventions he had never really understood, so he always slept on the wonderful carpet he had in his room. Dejun could have the bed.

“ _Yes_!” Dejun excitedly squealed, wiggling on Kun’s back a bit.

So it was decided and Kun found himself walking towards the block his house was in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was away over the weekend and didn't have time to write, but I had so many ideas in the car, I almost went crazy not being able to write them down, but you can hopefully look forward to them in the later chapters.
> 
> I have a question for you: I didn't tag smut and I haven't written any for Xiaokun so far - but is that something you enjoy reading, or not so much?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so many people commented under the last chapter, thank you so much. There’s many comments on this already (for my standards) I really, really appreciate every single one, thank you so much for the supports, I really hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the story! <3
> 
> And if there’s smut coming – there proooobably is, if you read the rest of the series you know that there’s lot in it and most comments said they’d be fine with it - I’ll mark it, so everyone who doesn’t want to see it can skip it. 
> 
> Also, someone pointed out that I already wrote Sooyoung/Joy as Jaehyun’s sister in TBDIS… I… didn’t realise I did… I’ll be re-writing her as someone else, please ignore the mess-up D:
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

Kun woke up before Dejun when the sun started shining onto his face. It was Sunday, so the Flower Paradise was going to be closed. No need to rush anything.

Kun stretched his arms until they cracked and got off the carpet, folding his blanket carefully. He had taped the fridge shut yesterday when Dejun’s rant about his cockroach possibly being a fairy had died down into even breathing, but there was a new problem:

No breakfast. Save for excellent coffee. Kun considered sprinting to the closest convenience store, but the risk of Dejun waking up and prying off the tape and getting all his theories confirmed was a bit too real, so Kun decided against it. He’d just say he had forgotten to go grocery shopping.

Kun glanced back at the bed. Dejun’s hair was long and feathered over the pillow, still as unreflective as ever. His dark circles seemed to have become a constant, visible even in his sleep against his pale skin. But his lashes were just as dark and thick over his cheeks as always, almost hiding the discolouration that spoke of stress.

He looked ethereal and Kun had to quickly look for something else to do before he might start crying over how out of reach for him he was.

 

He was already through the comments on the development of two of his favourite benchmark indexes when Dejun started stirring in his bed.

A groan came from him, and he flipped around twice, before starting to stretch his arms and blinking his eyes open. Kun may or may not have been staring. But he snapped out of it when Dejun sat up slowly, holding his head.

He seemed to realise he wasn’t in his own bed just then and snapped up looking around in confusion, before groaning again and holding his eyes shut.

“ _Hey_.” Kun got off his chair and stepped over the bed. “ _Good morning_.”

Dejun looked at him like a deer caught in headlights, obviously struggling to piece together the last night.

“ _Do you have a headache_?” Kun knew loud noises were the last thing you needed during a hangover, so he kept his voice low.

“ _Yeah_.” Dejun croaked. “ _Uh, am I at your place?”_

_“You are. I hope you don’t mind, but you were set on not wanting to go home last night.”_

Dejun started blushing and looked away. “ _Sorry_.”

_“It’s fine. Alcohol does funny things. How bad is your head?”_

_“Uh… I’ve had worse.”_

“ _Alright, but you should still drink some more water_.” Kun took the glass he had placed on the bedside table last night after he had made Dejun drink two of them.

He took it with softly shaking hands and obediently downed it.

 _“I’d offer you painkillers, but I don’t have any_.” Kun sighed in regret, but Dejun shook his head.

_“No need, thank you so much for all the trouble already.”_

“ _Like I said, it’s fine_.” Kun smiled and pushed Dejun’s hair back on instinct. He realised the gesture was much too intimate and awkwardly pulled away _. “Do you want to go home? Or grab something to eat?”_

_“Uh. Going home sounds pretty good right now. Is there a subway station close? Wait, where are we even?”_

_“In Apgujeongdong, and yes, there’s a subway two blocks from here.”_

“ _Oh good_.” Dejun nodded and threw off the blanket, revealing the black jeans Kun hadn’t dared strip off him last night. He had taken the studded belt, though. Kun got up and picked it up from his desk, alongside the ripped jeans jacket Dejun had been in.

He accepted them with a shy smile and quickly put the jacket over the tight long-sleeved top, hiding his slight frame. Slight or… skinny. If Kun looked closer, he wondered if Dejun had lost weight recently because his face looked even sharper than normally.

They were already by the door, putting on shoes, when Dejun seemed to finally have woken up for good and asked.

“ _Wait! You live in Gangnam? I thought you were looking for a job? Does the flower shop pay that well?”_

Kun hesitated. He was living here free of charge. Because he couldn’t legally rent any place, being unregistered and stuff, so he had to bewitch the landlady. But he couldn’t very well say that!

_“Uh, I live with two flatmates.”_

_“Ah. But still, that has to be expensive!”_

_“It’s – uh – we manage.”_

_“Well, that’s pretty cool, to be honest. Gangnam is really pretty, that’s why I come here all the time_.” Dejun smiled to himself and Kun opened the door.

_“I’m glad you think so, or you wouldn’t have come to Mrs Wang’s shop!”_

 

Coming to Ten’s place and not finding Dongyoung and/or Yuta on the sofa was almost a strange experience at this point. But Sundays were the days when the two grounded vampires were chased off it by the other inhabitants of the flat for once.

So, when Kun came inside in search of people to take his mind off the horrifying thought of developing the l-word for Dejun, he was greeted with Ten and Johnny cuddling like they were a domestic, sweet couple.

Taeil was on the armchair, looking like his own grandpa in the oversized cardigan and fake-glasses, reading through a book on diabetes treatment.

“Hey guys.” Kun shuffled into the room, trying to figure out what was running on the tv screen.

Ten grunted something that might be a word, Johnny smiled and nodded in greeting and Taeil glanced over his book.

“Hey Kun. Sicheng told me he met Dejun last night.”

“He what?” Ten was suddenly upright on the sofa, though he accidentally elbowed Johnny in the process of getting up, who groaned and held his stomach.

Taeil smiled smugly, obviously having been the only one informed. What Chenle was to Kun, Taeil was to Sicheng. Or something…

“Uh yes? Why is this a big deal?”

“Why is this a big deal?” Ten screeched “It’s the guy you’ve been seeing again and again and again, despite it being a risk. This is not something the Qian Kun I know would do! So, he has to be special. Taeil, where are the details? How does he look? Is he worth our coven leader’s time?”

“Tennie, calm down, you sound like my boss when he thinks he has a hot trail to a pack or coven.” Johnny rubbed over his boyfriend’s back soothingly. It didn’t help soothe anything, but Kun appreciated the effort.

“Well, according to Sicheng he’s pretty tiny and absolutely adorable and looks a bit like Taeyong, but Sicheng was also shitfaced, so who knows,” Taeil reported. Kun tried to match Dejun’s and Taeyong’s faces, but they looked completely different in his head.

“Oho!” Ten’s grin must hurt at this point.

“And he clung to Kun the whole time, but told Sicheng that fairies were real and responsible for making flowers pretty.”

“Ohoooo!” Ten was having way too much fun. But Kun could only watch in horror…

“Sooo, when are we meeting the fairy tale prince? Ah, this is so exciting, you never dated anyone! No more sad-single club all on your own!”

“I’m an honorary member, so he isn’t alone.” Taeil pointed out, but it didn’t help reassured Kun.

“Guys, I’m not dating Dejun, nor do I plan to. He was very drunk and Junmyeon needed someone to translate because he stopped speaking Korean. So I made sure he got home well.” Which he had. An hour earlier.

“Hmmm yes and why not? He seems to be into you if the constant texting and drunk clinginess is anything to go by.”

“Because he doesn’t even know my real name and… stuff.”

“But you like him?” Now Johnny was tuning in, too. Kun should have just dropped by Taeyong and Jaehyun’s and hope they were lovey-dovey on the sofa and not doing a scene. They wouldn’t have asked any of these questions!

“He does.” Ten nodded, having read Kun’s face.

“I never said so.”

“No need.” Ten blew him a kiss. “Want me to come and play cupid?”

“Because you’re so great at revealing that you’ve actually been an immortal vampire the entire time.” Kun stabbed back.

“Hey! That wasn’t planned!” Ten whined and threw Johnny an apologetic glance. “If Johnny hadn’t almost gotten his head ripped off by that rogue and I had to step in, I would have calmly sat down and talked about it.”

Taeil, Kun and Johnny all burst into coughing at the same time and Ten started tickling Johnny in punishment until he was gasping for air.

 

Dejun was back at the flower shop on Tuesday because he was stuck in the lab on Monday, which he documented with many photos and moping messages while he waited for results to come out.

He looked even paler than normal, but he was smiling brightly.

“ _I finished my research and the results are good_!” Dejun announced the second he was over the threshold.

“ _Really? That’s amazing! And so quickly! You still have three months before you need to turn it in._ ” Kun couldn’t hide his own excitement.

_“I feel like I might not have the three months, so I’ll hurry and get it finished. Ah, I really hope this will give the team a good basis to get ahead in development.”_

_“I’m sure it will. If you want me to proofread, or have trouble with Korean, tell me, right?”_

“ _Thank you! Honestly, I don’t think I could have done it without you. So, I have a little thank-you present_!” Dejun put his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and produced a key-charm with a cute comic version of a leukocyte.

Kun stared at it for a second, then at Dejun.

_“It’s… that… I can’t accept that, I didn’t do that much!”_

_“You definitely did! Anyone else I couldn’t have paid enough to do this much for me! This doesn’t even come close.”_

Kun held out his hand and Dejun dropped the charm. It was heavy, the back uncoloured, showing a golden metal base.

 _“Thank you. I love it._ ” Kun softly said and looked up to find Dejun looking a bit teary-eyed.

“ _Great. That’s… yeah. If you really want to proofread, that’d be awesome, because I already finished writing.”_

 _“You already finished_?” Kun gaped.

“ _Yeah, like I said, I felt like it_.” Dejun shrugged. “ _So, uh, do you have time to grab ice cream after your shift?”_

_“Of course.”_

 

Ice cream was great food for vampires because you could easily let it melt in your mouth and it wouldn’t mess with your stomach. And the taste really wasn’t bad.

Dejun had opted for fruits because they were made without milk and Kun would happily eat whatever Dejun wanted.

 

“ _My good dude. You’re so fucked!”_

_“Language.”_

_“Sorry, Kun-Ma_.” Yangyang didn’t sound sorry and Kun wondered where he had gone wrong in raising his son.

“ _But do you think I should tell him? Because I need to decide and soon before that thesis is submitted and Dejun goes back in China or stuff. I mean, I don’t even know what he plans on doing after. But he’ll probably go home.”_

_“That’d suck. Well, I’d definitely do it. I’ve always told people I was seriously interested in, so you should, too.”_

_“But what if…”_

_“No ifs! If he rejects you, or, god forbid, is straight, he still has to go home. That way you’ll just never see him again. Trust the expert.”_

_“You’re quite single for a relationship expert.”_

_“I will give you a 3 out of 10 for that insult_.”

Kun groaned and rubbed his temple. “ _Fine. I’ll tell him. Soon. Maybe after that duel in 10 days.”_

_“Set a date or you’ll delay it forever.”_

_“Why are you suddenly making the rules here?”_

_“Come on, Kun-Ma, I’m 216 this year. I can give good advice!”_

Kun grumbled some more, but Yangyang was right. And Kun had come to him with the question in the first place, so he shouldn’t be complaining.

 

So, he decided to tell Dejun on Sunday, in 11 days. If Joohyun won. If Qian won… he’d reconsider if it was safe for Dejun to know.

Until then, he’d just bask in Dejun visiting him to go through more phrases he had mistranslated and layout glitches.

 _“I want to hand it in on Monday in two weeks,_ ” Dejun told him, so really, the date had to be fate.

 

Kun saw both Jisung and Chenle’s shoes in the entrance hall of Ten’s flat. Meaning the peaceful Hanzi-studying would not happen today. But it was fine. Jisung was adorable. Tall, but a baby at heart.

“Look Kun, Lucas blended brownies with us!” Was the first thing he was greeted with before a brown mixture was thrust under his nose.

It smelled edible…

“Wonderful!” Kun smiled and looked past the excited Chenle to see Lucas turn up and down the speed of the blender like he was a racer waiting on the starting line.

“Is Yuta fine with you using his blender like this?” Where was Yuta even?

“Yeah man, don’t worry, this is mine now, I bought it from him because the Chilli chicken stained so badly and I felt bad. He and Sicheng are shopping right now, to buy a new one. Oh, by the way, do you think this’ll fit in the kitchen?” Lucas patted the blender.

“I’m sure there’s some space left to squeeze it into. Chenle, how about we get started on your homework, so we’ll be done quicker?”

“Right after I finish this,” Chenle promised, before pushing a straw into the huge glass.

Thankfully, Kun didn’t have any other plans for the evening.

 

 

[from: Dejun, received, 10:12 am]

‘Hey, so I know you aren’t working today, but I’m close, so I was wondering, if I could drop by and give you the new printouts?’

[to: Dejun, sent, 10:13 am]

‘Yes, of course, but I’m not at my flat, but at a friend’s, do you want to drop it off there?’

[from: Dejun, received, 10:15 am]

‘Is that okay with them?’

[to: Dejun, sent, 10:15 am]

‘Of course.’

Kun looked up from his phone, that was placed on his novel. Taeil was on a shift, as was Sicheng, which left Yuta to mope with some Shoujo anime running on TV. Dongyoung had fled the cliché plot to his room, where he was doing god knew what. And then there was Ten, engrossed in his phone, moving his hands a little, which meant he was most likely choreographing something.

Maybe it was a good idea to catch Dejun by the door before Yuta and Ten could metaphorically hook their claws into him.

So, Kun sent Dejun the address and told him where to ring.

 

It didn’t even take another ten minutes for him to arrive and Kun almost fell off his chair when the sharp ring of the bell ripped through the flat.

Yuta and Ten perked up, but Kun was quick to answer.

“Who’s that?”

“Kun?”

Oh, right. Kun!

“Dejun’s dropping something off. Don’t call me Kun!”

“But that’s your name,” Yuta complained.

“Silly, he’s going by Chenle, so his crush won’t realise he did research 20 years ago and didn’t age since.” Ten put away his phone and got into position to observe. That had been expected…

Kun already regretted this.

It took a bit for Dejun to arrive on their floor because they were on the 14th and the elevator often took some time to arrive. But when the metal doors finally slid open, they revealed his petite figure dressed in the baby blue tracksuit that made him look extra soft.

 _“Ah, it’s the right floor this time! I accidentally tried the 4 th first. H_i!” Dejun beamed and walked over to the door Kun was waiting in.

_“Hey. Did you figure out how to put the beginning into words?”_

_“I did. Kind of. I don’t want to impose, so… uh we could just speak later?”_

_“Would you prefer to do it now?_ ” Kun asked. Dejun’s face looked sharper, again, like he had lost more weight and Kun wanted to ask if he was alright, if he was eating… but he couldn’t. It was too personal. No matter how worried he was that he might be starving himself.

_“Well actually yes, but you’re here with your friend, so just call me later?”_

Kun felt someone press themselves past him.

“Oh, that’s the cutie? He does look shy. No need to be. Me casa, tu casa. Come in! I’m Ten, by the way. Nice to meet you!”

Kun felt panic rise, but Dejun simply seemed surprised, his eyes round and pretty.

“Really? That’s so nice! I’m Xiao Dejun, nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Ten chirped overly sweetly. Kun managed to shove the other vampire out of the way, so Dejun could take off his shoes in peace.

The next obstacle was still stretched over the sofa, hawk eyes on Dejun when they entered from the entrance.

“Uh, this is Yuta.” Kun gestured to the couch, where Yuta was now waving with a predatory smile. Dejun didn’t seem to recognise it for what it was, but hurried to bow.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Xiao Dejun.”

“Well, of course, you are. I’ve heard soooo much about you.” Yuta smiled brightly and Kun wanted to drag Dejun away, but that’d be rude. “After all, it’s very rare our… dear friend here spends this much time with someone.” Yuta winked Kun’s direction.

Dejun seemed unsure what to do with that information, so he blinked at Kun in confusion.

“Right. Let’s go to the kitchen, there’s a table, so we can work in peace.”

“There’s also a lot of other things you can do in the kitchen.” Yuta wiggled his eyebrows. Dejun didn’t seem to catch on and Kun all but dragged him away before he could go into more detail over what exactly he was talking about.

“Wow, this flat is huge.” Dejun looked around the sleek kitchen in wonder. Kun’s eyes caught on the fruit – meant to be blended into smoothies, but healthy for humans just as much. “Are you maybe secretly a rich heir? And friends with lots of other really rich and handsome heirs?” he blinked at Kun in genuine curiosity and Kun sputtered.

“No!”

“Ah, okay. I mean it seemed pretty likely.”

Kun calmed himself and looked back to the fruits, thinking that Dejun looked like he got way too little vitamins in his diet.

“Would you like to have an apple? Pear? Banana? Mango? Melon? Cherries? Strawberries?” Kun rattled down.

“Oh, you already have strawberries? I’d love to have some, they’re my favourite.”

 

So, Dejun found himself with a huge bowl of the desired berries (yes, Dongyoung had informed them how they actually weren’t berries, but whatever), popping them into his mouth one after another, as Kun attentively read over the new opening.

 

“He’s pretty.” Ten said the second Kun closed the door.

“Super pretty, and tiny. I mean, he’s smaller than Ten?” Yuta stretched his legs to become more comfortable.

“Excuse you?”

“You can’t deny you’re short for today’s standards.”

“Well, size doesn’t matter.” Ten sniffled.

“Look at the hypocrisy in this one. Kun, can you believe it? I saw Johnny’s dick, even if I didn’t want to. And there he honestly stands and claims size doesn’t matter…”

“I’m not with Johnny because he has a great dick!” Ten screeched and Kun just picked his novel back up while Ten and Yuta started arguing, voices getting louder and louder until Dongyoung burst from his room and demanded silence and that he didn’t need to hear about any of Ten’s or Yuta’s preferences in bed, thank you.

 

 

A few days later, Kun returned to his flat (Yes, his own one), to find Mark on the sofa in the tiny living room, looking gloomy. The flat was perfectly silent, so no one else was here.

Under different circumstances, the presence of a Hunter in his living room would have worried Kun a lot more. But Mark was harmless, at least for them. He had been one of the Hunters to lead Ten and Yuta into the HQ of the Union to free Dongyoung and have overcome his vampire-phobia after a bit of coaxing. Mainly due to Donghyuck and Dongyoung, who convinced him that there was no reason to worry.

Now, he let Yuta dye his hair and had Kun help him with his taxes.

Still, he normally didn’t just show up in his flat, unannounced and looking like three weeks rain.

“Hi Kun.”

“Hey Mark, what are you doing here? And how did you get inside?”

“Dongyoung gave me the password some time ago.”

Dongyoung didn’t even live here, yet he handed out he passcode to unassuming humans… not to mention, what the poor boy could walk into, in this flat!

“Sorry I just showed up. I was actually hoping to find Dongyoung. Just ignore me.”

As if Kun would ignore someone looking so sad and tiny, in obvious need of being cheered up.

So, he slipped onto the sofa next to Mark. Not too close, though.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just the normal stuff. And I may or may not have quit my job.” Mark burst out.

Kun paused.

The Hunters were usually taken in by the Union at an incredibly young age. No matter how much they were trying to enforce rules, there was crime with any group of people, so killings through rogue wolves and vampires, either cruel or in a blood frenzy from not feeding properly, happened from time to time.

The Union used those to fuel hate and took in orphans and survivors of these incidents. But they also scouted from the descendants of former Hunters, or on Martial arts competitions, saying it was for a normal police unit. Trained in the system, most Hunters were extremely loyal, but also very dependant on the union, as Dongyoung had explained, coming from a similar situation.

That was also why Johnny was still working for them, trying to do the good sides of the job, those that worked in the covens’ and packs’ favour by taking out dangerous individuals.

Mark had been more on the fence and thinking about quitting for some months now.

“That’s great. Congratulations.” Kun smiled and Mark returned it weakly.

“I know, right? But it’s also so weird. I feel like… I don’t know. Weird. Like I lost something I shouldn’t be sad I lost but… still miss. Not to mention how furious my boss was. I don’t know.”

“Hey, it’s your life, not his. Don’t let that drag you down! Did you come to tell Dongyoung?”

“Yeah, actually. Only Johnny knows, so far.”

“Did you try calling him?”

“No.” Mark’s voice was a bit shaky and Kun quickly connected the dots.

“Want me to do it?”

“That’d be… really nice. Thank you.”

 

And like that, time seemed to rush by Kun at a much too fast pace. It was like days were slipping from his hands, the d-day of the duel coming closer and closer, and all he wanted was more time for once in his life.

 

 _“Meihua disappeared_ ,” Dejun told him on Friday, looking a bit dejected. His skin had started to look papery and Kun was beyond worried.

“ _Maybe she was looking for a new person to make happy? Or she wanted her freedom back?”_ Kun suggested as he pulled the roses that were far beyond their prime from the buckets. They wouldn’t sell those to anyone. So, he cut off the stalks short.

“ _Do you think so_?” Dejun sighed and leaned onto the workbench.

“ _Yes, I’m sure she’s fine and will remember the time with you well.” Kun smiled and wrapped the roses with a soft pink ribbon. “Here, these can’t be sold anymore and you don’t have to regularly water them and they’ll still look pretty for a few days.”_

Dejun looked at the colourful cluster with wide eyes.

_“For me?”_

_“Yes. If you want them?”_

“ _I do_!” Dejun breathed and took them from his hands gingerly. “ _How can you make anything look so pretty? I think it’s your talent_!” he looked up through his thick lashes and Kun swallowed thickly.

_“Ah, no, it’s just… practice. With a little time, you can do it, too.”_

Dejun looked down on the flowers and Kun couldn’t see his expression. _“I wish I had time.”_

Kun felt his stomach clench.

If Dejun didn’t have time… and looked like he was slowly fading away, no matter how bright his smile still seemed…

 _“Dejun? You worry me. Why don’t you have time_?” Kun softly asked and stepped around the workbench to be closer.

The other’s fingers tightened around the flowers and the scent of blood started coming from him as the thorns bit into his skin. Kun reached over to carefully pry his fingers back open. But he couldn’t help his nose from twitching.

Blood was the essence of life, not only for humans but also for vampires. You could easily tell the blood type by scent, but you could also tell if someone was healthy by how their blood smelled. Kun wasn’t trained, but he knew both Jaehyun and Sicheng could use it as a means to diagnose people, as they knew what to look for.

But he didn’t need to be a medical professional to know, that there was something very, very off with Dejun’s blood. Kun felt almost sick in worry now, but he needed to take care of the human. He was hurt and that had priority right now. Questions later, when he wasn’t in pain anymore.

 _“Come on, let’s clean this, flowers are full of bacteria, you’ll get an inflammation_.” Kun softly suggested and pulled Dejun along to the sink, who glanced up at him now, searching for something in his face.

He still didn’t speak while Kun washed out the cuts on his palms and fingers carefully.

 _“So… you’re actually not a vampire_?” Dejun eventually asked, when Kun turned off the water and reached for a fresh towel. He froze and turned to stare at Dejun in surprise.

_“What now?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *le gasp*
> 
> The gold on the charm is a play on Kun’s family name Qian, which means money, the radical means metal or gold haha, sorry I’m such a nerd.
> 
> I have [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155) now~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Visuals](https://66.media.tumblr.com/f226ee7ea3726c5d8a753482adfd5af1/tumblr_pm1s6hrRyB1rg9u0to2_400.gif)
> 
> Also, did you see the preview for All For One (which is the only promo us fans, starving for content, seem to get, I’m not crying)? During the game Xiaojun was curled up in his little box, looking tiny and adorable TT TT
> 
> Partially Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

“ _Ah_.” Dejun smiled softly “ _I thought you were. I mean… it was just a theory. I mean, I didn’t plan to trigger you, but I guess the scent of blood would have made you snap or something, were you one, right? Sorry, I probably sound really dumb right now.”_

Kun sighed and pressed the towel on his hands to stop the bleeding. Dejun held still and Kun wondered if he’d get a better set up for this. It felt like now or never.

 _“The scent of Blood will only set off a young vampire, or an underfed one_ ,” Kun explained, carefully judging Dejun’s expression. His mouth formed an o.

_“Wow, I thought you weren’t really interested! But that’s a great theory!”_

_“It’s not a theory_.” Kun chuckled and let go of Dejun, so he could run if he wanted to. Kun hoped he wouldn’t. “ _I am a vampire. And my name’s also not Zhong Chenle. I’m sorry.”_

Dejun narrowed his eyes and cocked his head.

_“Really? And you’re not just saying this to… mock me?”_

_“I could never do that. Not to you._ ” Kun whispered the last part, feeling entirely out of his element. “ _I can show you if you want proof. I have fangs.”_

“ _You do?”_ Dejun perked up, still pressing the towel to his hands “ _I don’t have to… like… worry you’ll bite me?”_

 _“No_.” Kun shook his head with a small smile. He was so adorable...

 _“Awesome! I want to see!_ ” Dejun leaned forward a bit, like to see better. Up close, the texture of his skin was even clearer, more worrying. But Kun wanted to lay open his own cards before pressing further for what the reason in the odd smell in Dejun’s blood was.

So, he closed his eyes. As an old vampire, it was easy for him to control his body to the finest parts, such as if he wanted to appear human, or able to rip someone’s throat out. Within the fraction of a second, he felt the familiar sensation of his canines elongating and his eyes prickling as they changed colour.

When he opened them again, they were blood red and Dejun gasped softly but didn’t pull away, instead his eyes fell on Kun’s mouth, so he opened it enough to let the fangs show.

“ _Wow_!” Dejun whispered and reached out, like he wanted to touch, but probably thought better of it and pulled back. “ _Those are so awesome! I knew it, the government was holding this under wraps_!” he squealed in excitement and Kun felt his chest warm in affection.

He let them retract, going back to normal appearance.

_“You’re not scared?”_

_“No! Of course not! I mean, you’re literally the nicest, most wonderful person ever, why would I have to be scared? Wait. Should I be scared?_ ” Dejun blinked and Kun was quick to shake his head, feeling a rush of nervousness at the words. “ _So, what’s your real name then? Qian Kun?”_

_“Uh, yes.”_

_“Ha! I knew it_!” Dejun bounced up and down “ _I understand you couldn’t tell me! What do they do with people who break the rules? Put them in giant freezers? Wait! Will you get in trouble because I figured out? Will I get in trouble?”_

_“No! No, there’s no freezers and there’s no government reigning over us. It’s just for safety precautions. So, it’d be great, if you didn’t tell anyone…”_

Dejun nodded, face serious “ _I’ll take your secret to my grave with me.”_

Kun felt a bit uncomfortable at the choice of words when that scenario might take place much sooner than he’d like it to.

 _“I feel even more honoured you helped me so much. Honestly, I really hope there’ll be good results, so in the future, people could get treated better_.” Dejun started playing with the towel “ _Because there’s still many things that can’t be healed.”_

Kun felt the shift of mood and wanted to keep Dejun happy. Safe and healthy, but life often wasn’t what you wanted it to be.

_“Dejun… it’s not really my business, but… your blood smells off. Are you ill?”_

“ _Yeah. I have chronic leukaemia in the last stadium. Which is why I had to come here and get this done, live a bit of a normal life… but I don’t think I have as much time left as I originally hoped. I know, it’s really no fun to talk about_.” Dejun laughed unhappily and Kun couldn’t hold himself back. He gently pulled Dejun into a hug.

A sob ripped from his chest and Kun had to screw his eyes shut to stop himself from joining in. But he was best at this, being strong for others. He wanted to be strong for others, but especially for Dejun. So, he rubbed his back as he felt his shirt get wet on the shoulder, where Dejun’s face was hidden.

 

When he had calmed down, Kun offered he could stay here and Dejun curled up behind the workbench, hidden from the customers, but in sight for Kun.

 

 

“Chronic leukaemia?” Jaehyun’s brows were furrowed. There were the soft pants of Taeyong to be heard from the bedroom. Today, Kun simply didn’t have the space of mind to care that he had just become part of Jaehyun’s games with his boyfriend, who was kept waiting while he lounged in the living room in a thick bathrobe to answer medical questions.

“That has a pretty good rate of getting cured, however, there’s always a small percentage where the treatment doesn’t work. If he’s already in the last stage… he really doesn’t have much time left. It can be anything from a week to a few months, but if you noticed him visibly getting sicker for some weeks already, his time’s definitely ticking away. I’m sorry.”

Kun nodded. Internally, he wanted to cry, scream and demand that Dejun got the health he deserved, that he was such a wonderful person and shouldn’t be punished with such a diagnosis. But he couldn’t worry his coven mates, especially the younger ones he had practically raised like Yangyang.

“You really grew to like him, didn’t you?” Jaehyun asked, “And I’m not just saying this because half the coven have been talking about this for weeks.”

“Yeah. I… I wanted to tell him. But I didn’t. I didn’t realise he was… this ill. I don’t know if I should.”

Jaehyun hummed “You know… I don’t know him, obviously. But some people who get sick so early aren’t ready for death, no matter for how long they knew there was no way around it. Normally, there’s nothing I can do but try and make it easier for them. But this isn’t normally. You’re not his attending physician, but his friend.”

The implication was heavy and Kun rubbed his face.

“I could offer him the turn.”

“Yes.”

“But what if he doesn’t want to?”

“Well… then he says no and that’s that.”

“Let’s assume he agrees… If I confess after, he might feel compelled to accept me. If I confess before, he might feel compelled to stay with me, even if it doesn’t work out. So, I’d had to keep it secret forever.”

Jaehyun chuckled and pulled out his phone, tapping something.

“You sound like Ten, so overdramatic. Give him a bit to adjust and then he’ll be able to realise he doesn’t owe you anything and make his own decisions. There’s other covens he could join, too, you’re not making him a mindless slave.”

“I do not sound like Ten, oh my god!”

“Kinda do.”

Kun sighed and mulled over the words. “Okay, I should think about it. About offering. I still think it’s better to keep it to myself, that I like him.” Kun paused and frowned at the sounds that started harassing his ears. Time to get out of here. “Thank you, Jaehyunnie. And don’t tease Taeyong too much.”

“He likes it, though. Wanna watch and see how much he does?” Jaehyun smirked and Kun got off the sofa. This was a time during which it was easy to say no.

“I absolutely do not. Have fun and remember to look presentable tomorrow, or the other covens will think we’re not taking this seriously.”

“Hm. I can try.”

Kun shook his head and stalked out of the flat.

 

He couldn’t hold himself back from showing up with breakfast at Dejun’s dorm the next morning and was rewarded a bright smile from the guy in his adorable bunny pyjamas, that made Kun want to tuck him right back into bed.

 

But even the small happiness in the morning couldn’t mask the nervousness, that was like a thick blanket over the entire coven. It seemed like, contrary to the other days that passed in a blur, the seconds now stretched on without an end, minutes feeling like hours as they waited for the evening to come. The evening when the future of the supernaturals in Seoul would be decided.

Kun knew, that they all were worried. Qian was a wild card. It was unlikely she’d actually go and do something against them. But the closer the date was, the more real the risk seemed. Whoever was in love, had sought the confirmation and reassurance of their significant other the night before, holding onto them now.

Kun was glad to know Dejun out of risk, at least for this, and Yangyang far away and uninvolved. But the worry over the rest of the coven gnawed away on his nerves. So, when the door rang at 6 pm, interrupting the happy music of Sailor Moon that was playing in an effort of calming the coven that was crowded into the living room, everyone flinched.

Kun’s first thought was it being Dejun, but he had gotten a photo from him in the copy shop of the university to get his thesis printed and bound just half an hour ago. It couldn’t be him.

They all strained their ears when Ten picked up the intercom.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Is this Sicheng’s friend?”

The voice was familiar enough and Kun made eye contact with Sicheng immediately.

“Yes.”

“It’s urgent! I need to speak to you.”

Ten throw them a glance, but all three Chinese vampires were already nodding furiously.

If Kunhang was coming now, there had to be a major problem, else he’d be with his coven, preparing to attend the meeting later.

It only took a few seconds for him to appear in the door, looking frazzled and a little out of breath. He might have run all the way here…

“Qian’s playing dirty!” he gasped. “She put my coven leader under bewitchment and I’m sure she did the same to all the others who are on her side.”

“She put another vampire under bewitchment?” Sicheng’s voice was hard. Doing that to someone unless it was absolutely necessary, like maybe for an inexperienced newly turned, was beyond disrespectful.

“Yes, I clearly saw it in his eyes and his sentence just cut off. I don’t even know what she did, but I know it was her because she wanted to be alone with him a few days ago. No one of us is old enough!”

“Do you have an assumption what she might have told him to do?” Kun asked, sitting Kunhang down on the sofa.

“No. But the possibilities are endless! What if she made them all attack Joohyun, so she didn’t stand a chance? What if she made them attack the other attending covens, what….”

“That seems unlikely. There’s too many for only the coven leaders being enough to take out.” Sicheng cut in, eyes dark. He had a history in some sort of army, Kun didn’t know the details, but Sicheng was extremely skilled in multiple martial arts and planning a strategy, better than he himself, and Kun had been in the Chinese army for a few decades.

“What do you think?” Yuta asked his boyfriend, while Kunhang worried his lower lip.

“I think she might use them to take down Joohyun and her coven. No one else would dare to challenge her after and she’s playing on the masses not being organised enough to immediately revolt. Not to mention, most vampires who stand for old values and manners are on Joohyun’s side. She’s suspecting us to be too upright to do something against her gaining control.”

Kun sucked in a sharp breath. Sicheng probably wasn’t wrong. If that had happened without warning, no doubt would he had told them to stay back.

Everyone was quiet and Kun felt their eyes on him. He as the leader had to come to a decision. And quick, because they had to leave in about 20 minutes.

Normally, Kun would hold back. But this… he couldn’t accept this sort of betrayal!

“If she plays dirty, so can Joohyun. From what I know, Qian has 21 covens on her side, which makes 26 people to take out in total, preferably without killing anyone, of course. We’re not on their level.”

There were ten of them, eleven, if you counted Kunhang. Kun would prefer this to be one on one, for the purpose of only restraining them, but there also wasn’t anyone he could turn to for help. Of course, he knew there were other covens in Joohyun’s favour, many even, but between covens, there wasn’t much friendship. Amicable co-existence, if you wanted.

He would have contacted Xuanyi, but her coven had remained neutral and Xuanyi wasn’t the leader. 20 minutes was not enough time to convince a near stranger of your borderline traitorous plan.

“There’s an easier way. If you expect the coven leaders to stay down when you break the bewitchment, you have to do just that. Get in their heads, snap the ties to Qian. And do it early, preferably.” Yuta suggested.

 

So, they found themselves at the location on the military memorial, far away from curious humans with lots of space for more than 50 covens in full attendance, even earlier than originally planned.

Kun’s nerves were stretched thin. He saw lots of faults with the plan, but it had been whipped up in a hurry, no time to perfect it.

First of all, bewitching a vampire hurt and so did undoing bewitchment. Where humans could barely feel anything, vampires felt a sharp pain. They’d have to explain themselves and waste time.

Secondly, only he and Sicheng were older than Qian, so it was up to them to find every coven leader, make eye contact, break the bewitchment, and explain themselves.

And last, but not least: what if some of the coven leaders actually were in on the plan and agreed? Because at least two of them were older than Qian, and thus too old for her to influence.

But there was no alternative. They’d have to try.

 

It seemed to go without much trouble. Kun managed to catch some covens and their leaders before they went inside. He struck up a conversation until he managed to get eye contact and slipped into their heads.

He broke the bewitchments placed on each and every one of them, they winced, but understood, slightly confused when Kun explained they had been bewitched and he was just breaking it. Lucky for him, no one doubted him, when their own coven members confirmed Kun hadn’t given any commands. He didn’t go into detail, as to why and by whom they had been bewitched, so it remained to be seen who’d go through if Qian did actually put her plan into action.

But seeing that the leaders were actually bewitched made Kun doubt that less and less.

 

He had found 7 coven leaders by the time they met up inside, where Sicheng had been going through the crowd to do the same, as the doors were closed to let the duel begin.

“How many did you take out?” Kun whispered.

“Eight. You?”

“Seven. We’re missing four then, including the older ones.” Kun grumbled and stared at the middle now, where a big circle had been made for the two coven leaders to step up.

Everything went as normal. Joohyun and Qian both had their coven pledge loyalty to them. Sicheng was tasked with bewitching the coven members and then they bowed to each other.

The hall was in complete silence. Many covens stayed back on purpose. Kun had spotted Meiqi in the far back. Normally he would have looked for a place further back, but today they stood as close to the front and to Joohyun’s three coven members as possible.

Adrenaline was rushing through his body, as Sicheng opened the duel officially. His face was cold, uncharacteristically so. Kun just hoped everyone could pull through as they had promised. Kunhang hadn’t returned to his coven when Kun had encouraged him to. There was probably another story to that, but that’d have to wait for later. Instead, he had promised his support and who was Kun to turn that down?

Jungwoo was clinging to Lucas, who seemed to have a hard time holding still. Yuta kept his eyes on Sicheng, who stood a bit away, serving as the referee of the duel. Sicheng definitely had distanced himself mentally, how Kun normally would, too. Taeyong had a mask of indifference on as well, while Jaehyun’s mouth twitched from time to time. Taeil had his eyes trained on the three members of Joohyun’s coven and winced with every crunching sound a hit caused. The most interesting was Dongyoung, who was eying the fight as if he was watching a play of tennis, deep in concentration.

Having been a hunter, Kun guessed this would affect him differently than anyone else.

He’d have to try and keep an eye on Taeil, Jungwoo and Lucas, if it came to it. He was most worried over them. Yuta, maybe, but Sicheng would probably make sure that his boyfriend wasn’t in danger himself, so Kun could push that responsibility to him.

But Qian didn’t seem to really put her plan into action. The fight was evenly matched, both girls managing to get in hits, their wounds healing within seconds, as they already launched back at each other. Sometimes, Qian started backing Joohyun up, sometimes Joohyun worked her way far into Qian’s side.

It just went on and on, and Kun felt like every breath he took as a bit shorter than the next, no one daring to speak, as the two went for another big blow and another.

And then, it happened in the blink of an eye.

“I will be the winner of this!” Qian hissed, before bringing her fist down on Joohyun’s cheek.

The four girls from her coven launched themselves at Joohyun’s coven and three people from the crowd pushed forwards, into the empty circle, attacking Joohyun.

The crowd started yelling, but no one dared to step in. Only Sicheng, who darted forwards. Kun followed his direction and hoped everyone would do what they had agreed upon.

Sicheng ripped two of the uninvited coven leaders backwards, off of where they were trying to tear Joohyun’s heart out. Kun got his hand on the third and Yuta had a hand on a completely surprised and overwhelmed Qian’s throat to hold her back from using the momentum to win the fight.

“Timeout!” Sicheng shouted over the mess around. The crowd listened, but the two vampires he had just thrown to the ground were already getting back up.

Kun tried to get eye contact with the one he was holding back, but she wiggled too much, trying to break free in blind rage.

Kunhang pinned down one of the two that Sicheng was dealing with and from the sounds of yelling, it seemed like Dongyoung and the others had managed to restrain Qian’s coven.

“What’s going on?” Jaebum, one of the oldest coven leaders in Seoul stepped into the circle, fuming in rage. “Qian, you just broke the rules to the duel!”

Qian tried to say something but was muffled by Yuta’s hand. Joohyun had recovered somewhat, though her eyes were tinted red from blood loss, as she struggled to her feet.

“Are you this hungry for power?” she asked, voice slurring a little.

“You are the one hungry for power!” Another voice interrupted and Kun looked over to where Soojung was trying to break free from Jungwoo and Sooyoung holding her down. “I am related to Jessica! I am the rightful new leader of this city! You only got a little bit of attention from Taeyeon and suddenly you think you can run this place. Not to mention you are weak, too lax. No one will respect you!”

“I respect her!” Kun loudly announced.

“I respect her as well.” Jaebum agreed and soon, the majority of the room loudly chanted their respects. 

Soojung didn’t seem happy over this and tried to rip free once more, but she didn’t stand a chance against two vampires.

“Qian, you will have to face punishment for trying to illegally kill your duel partner by using cowardice means.” Sicheng announced.

“Kill her! And her coven of entitled fascists!” someone called.

“They’ll never accept their defeat!”

“We deserve peace and quiet in this city!”

“Down with them!”

“Down!” “Down!” “Down!”

Kun looked around and almost the whole room was chanting now.

How truthful some of them were was to be questioned. But for now, they had to come to an agreement.

“Joohyun, as the leader of the covens you are to decide if you agree with the people’s opinion.” Sicheng let go of his vampire, seemingly having broken the bewitchment, as they fell to the ground and stayed down. Kun grabbed the head of the woman in his hold and forced her into eye contact, snapping through what connected her to Qian and let go as well. She stumbled backwards and was taken by who seemed to be part of her coven.

“Qian, you’re despicable. We will not reign with fear. We want open discussion over problems and fair rules. But I will not allow traitors. I’m not weak, as you think. You would have murdered me, so I declare myself the winner of this duel. And the loser of any duel will face death.”

Qian started struggling and Joohyun stumbled towards her, weak in her steps. Someone pushed through the crowd and Seulgi appeared next to her, holding her upright.

Yuta moved his hands and Kun stepped to his side to restrain Qian from the other side.

“You will be overthrown by Soojung sooner or later.” Qian hissed, but Joohyun didn’t seem impressed. Her hand thrust forward, right through the other’s rip cage and with a gruesome rip, she tore out her heart, the unmoving muscle holding Qian’s life.

Her body bust into ash, disappearing from Kun’s grasp. He had to remember to keep himself indifferent and not let himself show weakness at the life lost for no reason. This was the reason he didn’t want to be leader. He couldn’t be this strong, even when he needed to be.

The four coven members stilled where they were held back, the bewitchment kicking in the second their leader was killed in the duel.

It would be up to Joohyun to decide what to do with them, but the crowd was already chanting for them to face the same fate as those of the other leaders to challenge Joohyun.

“Sooyoung? Rip their heads off.” Joohyun coldly commanded “Anyone who dares to break law shall face the same consequences. Like you.” She shuffled to where Kunhang was still on top of the last leader, the one who had acted without bewitchment, being too old for Qian to put him under it.

Under the cheers of the crowd, his head was ripped off by Seulgi.

 

Everything descended into chaos after. People were accusing each other of treason, there were people taking their pledges from their coven leaders. Joohyun had disappeared, probably to drink, but her coven members were flooded with people reassuring their trust. With them having gotten scattered among the crowd, it took half an hour to finally collect all coven members to head back home.

Jungwoo was still crying, but luckily he had not only one, but two boyfriends to pad tears off his face and sooth him, though one of the two looked ready to cry himself, but Dongyoung seemed reliable enough to deal with two crying boyfriends if the need arose.

Jaehyun and Taeil were in a conversation over possible physiological explanations for why the heart was even important for vampires, when it wasn’t moving their blood anymore, with Taeyong looking ready to fall asleep next to them.

Yuta and Sicheng were softly talking, Yuta rubbing Sicheng’s hand, and Kun didn’t want to intrude.

Ten had been on the phone with Johnny for 20 minutes, already far past the topic of the duel and discussing their date tomorrow.

And then, Kunhang still stood there, slightly awkward.

“Hey, don’t you want to return to your coven?” Kun asked, when he had made sure everyone else was taken care of.

“Right, about that… uh, could I possibly crash at your place? Since I kinda got myself kicked out by openly disagreeing and then removing my pledge of trust.”

“Oh!” Kun was baffled for a moment. “Over which sides to pick?”

“Yeah. If it’s a problem, I’ll just find a hotel.”

“No! No, it’s no problem! Ten has a very comfortable couch, so I heard. Or you might be able to take Dongyoung’s bed… maybe Yuta or Sicheng’s, who knows. We can definitely fit you in, you shouldn’t have to be alone!”

Kunhang smiled “Thank you!”

“Kun-Ma strikes again. I’m Ten, by the way, I don’t think we officially met yet.” Ten grinned and shoved himself next to Kunhang.

“Kun-Ma?” Kunhang started smirking “Is that your nickname? It’s so fitting!”

“Right?” Ten cackled and Kun sighed deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgh, I hate writing action, I’m so bad at it, but, like a dumbass, I set the story up for this. So, yeah, sorry you had to read that. Dejun’s coming back next chapter~
> 
>  
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you all watch the All For One episode with WayV? Now I have to wait another week for the next one TT TT
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

Dejun came form the elevator with the pot of his Lithops in his arm and a smile on his face, but he looked very pale and Kun’s heart sunk.

 _“Good morning! Look, there’s another bud on my fairy chairs! I think they’re having a good time!”_ Dejun beamed and pointed at the shy bud on the green fleshy plant. How he managed to be so bright and happy despite illness making him most likely suffer, Kun could only admire. And he felt himself yearn to hug and kiss him for being this wonderful a person. But he couldn’t.

“ _Wow and so quickly! It must like you!_ ” Kun admired the plant with genuine interest.

_“Do you think so?”_

_“Yeah!”_

“ _Do you think it’s weird if I take it to the café with me? I thought it might want some sun…”_ Kun was here because they had somehow ended up agreeing to get coffee together. No, it wasn’t a breakfast date. But Kun could secretly pretend it was.

“ _Sun’s probably good for it, let’s take it_.” Kun encouraged.

 

So, how other people would be walking their dog, they were walking their plant to the café close to campus that Kun deemed had the best coffee around. He had been here a lot in the recent months and coffee was simply a necessity!

They were far from alone and quite a few people threw them confused looks. Kun hoped Dejun didn’t care, but he wanted to tell them all off. Only that’d be quite rude and likely not make the situation any better. So he held his tongue and focussed on his great mood, that nothing could really ruin. Not today, when the duel had been settled and he was with Dejun.

                              

Kun ordered unholy amounts of coffee and Dejun chose a small, but sweet breakfast.

“ _So you actually can’t eat anything_?” Dejun asked, voice soft enough that no one would overhear.

_“The problem is not with the food itself, but that I can’t eat anything solid.”_

_“If you blended it, it’d be fine?”_

_“Why is everyone so obsessed with blending_?” Kun laughed “ _I never once thought about that, but it seems to be the hot trend.”_

 _“Everyone? So you live with other people? Oh! Those at the club? I don’t remember very well._ ” Dejun blushed a little.

_“Yeah, I have a coven that I live with. The vampires in Seoul are all organised in covens with one as the rulers, keeping watch over the rules being followed.”_

Dejun’s eyes were unblinking, focussed on every word and it was so cute, Kun felt himself start to stumble over his words.

_“Wow, that’s so cool! What rules are there?”_

_“Uh… there’s not many. Most rules are more like… traditions? Most importantly, they make sure no one goes around and wildly kills people, thus drawing attention to us. You also can’t turn anyone without permission, they keep track of all the vampires in the city, all the covens are registered with them. Other things, like not just telling everyone about the existence of supernatural beings are obvious, or manners, such as not bewitching other vampires unless absolutely necessary.”_

Dejun nodded “ _What’s bewitchment?”_

_“It’s a tool to make someone follow what you tell them. I can make you completely forget about my existence, for example.”_

Dejun’s eyes widened. “ _No! Please don’t!”_

Kun quickly reached over and patted his hand “ _I’m not going to. Don’t worry. I trust you’ll keep my secre_ t.” And Dejun luckily relaxed right away.

_“I won’t tell anyone, like I promised.”_

_“I know_.” Kun smiled. “ _I have lots of experience in reading people.”_

_“Right, you’re probably pretty old, right? How old are you?”_

_“In total… over 400 years. But I was turned when I was 22, so I just go by that age, since I froze at 22.”_ Kun shrugged.

 _“Then you’re my age! I’m 22 as well_!” Dejun clapped his hands. “ _Only you were my age for longer than me.”_

_“I guess you could say that.”_

_“If you’re that old… you were born when there were still emperors, right?_ ” Dejun suddenly realised.

_“Yes, during the last dynasty, the Qings.”_

_“Did you ever, like, visit the forbidden city. When it was still forbidden?”_ Dejun’s eyes were wide in interest.

 _“No, I didn’t._ ” Kun laughed “ _Only the emperor, Eunuchs and women were allowed inside. I did work as a royal advisor, but I never got to go inside.”_

_“Aw, that’s too bad. I’m sure it was beautiful before soldiers came and stole so much stuff.”_

Kun nodded slowly, thinking of the pictures there were. He hadn’t seen China in so long, but even though, in comparison, not that much time had passed, he felt like it had changed more than it had during the previous centuries when the Empire had still kept an eternal balance with tight traditions.

_“What else did you do? Scientist, flower shop worker, royal advisor? Wow, it’s so much already!”_

_“I did many things. I loved to travel, like I told you, so I got around quite a lot.”_

Dejun’s expression was dreamy and Kun wanted to reach over and run his fingers over his cheek, or, even better, kiss him.

But he couldn’t.

“ _Can you tell me about your coven? I want to hear about your friends, please?”_

_“Sure. There’s nine of them. Maybe ten, because one got kicked out of his coven, but I don’t know what his plan is for the future.”_

Dejun nodded. He was absentmindedly petting his succulent, seemingly expecting more.

“ _How far into detail should I go? I don’t want to bore you?”_

_“I’m sure you won’t. I want to know everything you want to tell me.”_

_“Alright, well, just stop me when it gets too much. I really care about my coven members, they’re like my family. They often joke with calling me the mom, I always tell them off, but I guess I tend to worry around a lot_.” Kun scratched his neck. Dejun didn’t interrupt, but he was smiling softly.

Maybe Kun was worrying around Dejun too much, too. The last thing he wanted, was for Dejun to call him Kun-Ma. The guy he had a crush on making him a parental figure… was traumatising, to say the least.

_“The coven was first founded a bit after the war, with only three members: Me, Ten, and Yuta. South-Korea is pretty much impossible to leave for us right now unless we want to risk getting discovered. There’s a hunting union, set to kill all supernatural and in Korea they have a lot of influence. When we realised we were stuck here, we decided to do our best to make it home._

_“Ten’s originally from Thailand and Yuta’s from Japan, so we were a foreigner coven at first. They’re both terrible nuisances, but caring and sweet at heart when you get past all their teasing and petty arguments. Uh, what else… Ten’s dating a Hunter, which is about as insane as it sounds. But it seems like they’re very happily in love no matter what._

“ _Then we added Taeyong in the 70s. He was not freshly turned, but had not been taught how to get around yet. It’s not like you want to just jump and bite everyone, but the red eyes and fangs I showed you? Those are a bit difficult to control. Back then, we were still actually biting people, but you have to be mindful of anatomy, so you don’t accidentally slice open the main artery._

_“Taeyong was followed by Jaehyun in the 90s, which was when Ten and I started to pick up the mom and dad joke for real. Uh what else… ah! Jaehyun’s a doctor. And he and Taeyong are also dating.”_

“ _Really_?” Dejun whispered looking a bit scandalised “ _But they’re both guys?”_

Kun felt his blood turn cold. He hadn’t even thought about this, not seriously at least. In their coven, every relationship was gay and everyone identified as something queer, as did most vampires for that matter, having lived long enough to experience that strict heterosexuality was as much a myth as strict homosexuality and the concept of two genders.

“ _Uh yeah_?” But yes, the general public was still very much caught in a heteronormative mindset, especially in Asia.

“ _You don’t care?_ ” Dejun’s fingers tapped on the table, his heartbeat picking up.

“ _Not really. The whole coven is pretty… everything. We recently lost out quota straight_.” Kun shrugged. Wait? Was Kunhang straight? Maybe they had gotten a new one.

Right, he had made out with Lucas, probably not then.

But was Dejun straight? Did it really matter if he was hopelessly crushing on someone straight or someone queer when he wouldn’t ever move on it? The answer was no, but Kun’s heart stubbornly insisted on at least wanting the small chance of something ever coming out of it.

“ _That’s… that’s really amazing! I never knew someone might… be like that, too_ …” his voice was soft and broke during the last words like he was talking to himself, so Kun decided not to ask, though the question was on the tip of his tongue. “ _Sorry, I interrupted you_!”

“ _Of course. A few years ago, Lucas joined us. He’s from Hong Kong, so his name’s actually Yukhei, but he decided he needed a cool and swag image for being a vampire. He has some funny ideas generally, he’s a real mood maker. If you want to learn how to pick a lock – he’s your man. I found him at the police station, where they had him questioned because he flew from Shenzhen and was filtered out at immigration. A prime example of why you shouldn’t fly as a vampire. Thankfully, I managed to get him out of there, but it was a fair share of luck involved._

_“And then we got a lot of new members very recently. Did you read about the so-called vampire killer?”_

_“Yes! The government’s cover-up story_?” Dejun nodded eagerly and, of course, he had seen through that. Kun smiled.

_“Yes, it was a cover-up. That really shook the whole supernatural scene and we ended up getting quite a few new members because of it. I think Sicheng was first, though he’s not a newly turned, only he was living a peaceful life on the countryside and only came to Seoul by chance. You met him, he was at the club, if you remember.”_

_“Yeah, a little.”_

_“And then there’s Jungwoo_.” Kun paused.

Jungwoo’s story was uncomfortably similar to Dejun’s. He had lived in adolescence knowing he’d die. Only Jungwoo had a different personality and had spent his life enjoying the wild life in the party districts. Kun didn’t judge either of them. It was simply different preferences.

Still, he didn’t want to tell Dejun and make him feel weird because of that, so Kun skipped that.

“ _Jungwoo’s very quiet and sweet. Most of the time. Then we have Taeil. Taeil actually knew about us before he was turned. He works as a nurse, so he was our blood supplier, well he still is only he now needs the blood, too. He’s also one of the most level-headed and reasonable people in the coven. Then there’s Dongyoung. He’s a Hunter who got turned, maybe you heard of him, he was in the news.”_

 _“The police officer_?” Dejun fired away, obviously even better informed than Kun would have expected.

“ _Yes. He seems level-headed, but his temper is not to be underestimated. Unless it’s Jungwoo, he never snaps at him. Lucas… sometimes. Ah, the power of love. And then there’s Kunhang, the one who got kicked out. He’s currently sleeping in Sicheng’s room because Sicheng always sleeps with Yuta anyway. And that’s them_.”

“ _Wait, are Yuta and Sicheng also dating then? They’re also both men, right?_ ” Dejun inquired, not as scandalised this time, but rather curious.

“ _Yes. Taeyong and Jaehyun, Yuta and Sicheng, Ten and Johnny, Dongyoung, Jungwoo, and Lucas, are all dating_.” Maybe Kunhang could also join the forever alone club…? With Kun’s luck, he was also ace and would join Taeil in making fun of him…

Then again, he had made out with Lucas. Which, of course, didn’t mean anything. But Kun could hope.

“ _Wow_.” Dejun’s eyes were glassed over and he was still petting the plant. “ _That’s so… special.”_

_“We don’t even think about it. It’s just normal. When you live forever, you have other things to worry about than someone deciding that there were only two genders and a couple had to be a man and a woman. I think there’re other things to worry about for everyone…”_

Dejun looked a little too close to tears now for Kun’s liking, so he quickly changed the topic.

“ _I have another good friend, who’s not part of my current coven, but used to be. I was actually the one to turn him, two centuries ago or so… his name’s Yangyang and he lives_ …” Where had Yangyang said he currently was? Not Berlin… “ _In Europe somewhere, I think Germany if he hasn’t already moved again. He would like to have synthetic blood in the form of tick-tack_.”

“ _Tick-tack_?” Dejun chuckled “ _That’s so unprofessional_.”

“ _Imagine selling that to a hospital_.” Kun grinned. Hospitals loved sophisticated things. Not drugs in the for of sweets.

_“We’d go bankrupt. But he’d like to have it, right?”_

_“Yes, every vampire would like to have it, I’m sure.”_

_“Wait! Was that the real reason why you did research on it? Back then?”_

_“Uh, yes.”_

“ _Ah_!” Dejun slapped his forehead and started laughing loudly and Kun couldn’t help join in.

_“I’d love to make tick-tacks for Yangyang! If I… only had the time. I’d want to make them, even if no hospital would buy them.”_

_“Wait! I know! They’d just need a vampire in the purchasing department. It’d sell like hot cakes.”_

Dejun nodded, but his eyes didn’t sparkle.

 

 

“I want to turn him. He’s… he’s too young and he still has so many things he wants to do. Jaehyunnie, he didn’t even know gay people were a thing!” Kun buried his face and groaned.

Jaehyun rubbed his back. “I hoped you’d decide this way. I’d say you better pitch him to Joohyun quickly. You’re playing on time here. You know that Sicheng was able to smell the anaemia on him weeks ago? Obviously, you also have to introduce him to us, but you can do that after, I’m sure everyone would understand.”

“But how do I suggest it to him? I feel so dumb. Why am I even asking you, I shouldn’t burden you!” Kun sighed and got up but was pulled right back down.

“You aren’t burdening me! I’m happy you decide to share your worries. How about you take someone with you if you feel like you don’t have the right words because you’re too involved with him? Maybe Ten? Maybe Taeyong? Maybe Sicheng? They all have their own ways to talk to strangers. I could come, too, if you want.”

“But what if he feels pressured? Scared?”

“Kun, calm down. We can use an open setting, where he can leave at any time. But if I judge him right from the few things you told us, he’ll probably be excited. Imagine, if it were you: you’re 22, destined to die, but don’t want to. In your free time, you research supernatural beings. Then you’re offered eternal life.”

Kun mulled over the words a bit.

“Okay, you’re probably right. But what if he thinks I’m using him, for his competence in making synthetic blood? Can you come?” Kun felt a bit weird about asking someone so much younger than himself for help, but he knew it’d make it much easier.

“It’d be my pleasure! Oh, but I recommend telling Ten and Yuta about your plans, or they’ll be offended.”

“They probably will be…” Kun sighed.

 

It was not a conversation he looked forward to. So instead, he texted the remaining evening back and forth with Dejun, explaining that werewolves generally were hardly different from humans and the Alpha Beta Omega thing wasn’t exactly right, biology not differing from humans to that extent, though the name Alpha was awarded to the leader of a pack and it was structured down from there, including Gamma, Delta, and so on.

When he texted Yangyang that he was sort of probably planning to turn Dejun, his peaceful conversation over pack behaviour was interrupted by a phone call from his Turnee.

“ _Waaaaaaaaah_ ”

Kun ripped the phone from his ear. Thankfully he was physically unable to go deaf. Or he would have. Some time ago.

“ _Kun-ma, the romance is happening!”_

 _“There’s no romance happening, did you read the message_?” Kun groaned. “ _I’m not going to tell him.”_

_“Ah, please. You can turn him, and then you tell him.”_

_“But what if he feels the need to agree, just because I saved his life? No, we can’t do that.”_

_“No, no, no. Give him time to adjust and then he knows he doesn’t owe you anything and you can have a happy ending.”_

_“Absolutely not! I have to be a reasonable adult here. I’d be in a position of power!”_

_“Kun! Come oooon! Yes, you are coven leader, but you’re also just a guy! And isn’t he the same age as you?”_

_“He’s also still doubting his sexuality, I think. I won’t do it.”_

_“Fine. I’ll change your mind and make a miracle romance happen for you, just wait.”_

_“You realise I can just hang up and then there’s nothing you can do, right?”_

“ _You wouldn’t… I’m your son! The real one! How can you be like this_!” Yangyang screeched and Kun sighed as he waited for the temper tantrum to pass. Had he spoilt his Turnee too much?

Probably.

 

Kun stared at the almost withered daisies, then he stared at the deliverer, who was busy taking a deep drag from his cigarette and not even looking at Kun.

“I’m not going to pay for that.”

“Hell, you are. That’s when you order last minute.”

“If this was all you had in stock it equals not having anything in stock.” Kun snarled back.

“They’re fine. No one’s going to look at them twice, it’s just flowers.”

“It’s not just flowers. It’s for a wedding and they have to look perfect and brighten up the room. These are far past their peak, I’m not even going to pay half for them.”

“It’s the product you ordered, they’re fine. What are you? Some entitled 20-year-old? I’m not taking the disrespect from someone who’s just sitting in the nest made by his parents.”

“Hilarious. My name’s Qian, the owner of this shop is called Wang. Rings a bell? Right! No blood relation. Be happy I’ll pay you for the rest of the crap you brought.” Kun wanted nothing but to send him away with all the flowers he had brought, none of them looking as fresh as he wanted and needed them to be. But the bride had changed her mind last minute and he didn’t have that sort of time.

“I’m telling you, the daisies are fine. If you don’t want them, I’m taking them.” He blew the smoke into Kun’s face and smirked.

That really was all the disrespect Kun was willing to take. He plucked the cigarette from the man’s fingers and squashed it under his shoe.

“If you don’t want me to tell every single flower shop in Seoul that they shouldn’t buy from you anymore, you’ll give them to me for free and be happy I’m even giving you this generous chance when you dared to show up with this shit.”

“Like they’ll listen to you.”

Kun pulled out his phone in the blink of an eye and snapped a picture of the daisies, the man and his car. “I’ll just show them this photo and they will.”

“That’s blackmail! I should be reporting you!”

“Hilarious, what will you tell the police? This customer was trying to rightfully demand good quality, while I tried to sell him weeks old flowers and insisted they’d be fine to use on a wedding.”

“Listen, keep the damn daisies. But I won’t be bothering to bring you anything if you ask again.”

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t be contacting you in the future.” Kun counted the bills and gave the correct sum to the man, feeling a bit annoyed he was getting anything at all. The man snarled and snatched them from his hands, before slamming the trunk shut and driving off with squealing tires.

He sighed and started bringing the buckets with flowers inside. Mrs Wang and his co-worker Kaeun were already binding bouquets. They had been at it since the morning and wouldn’t finish until the evening when the delivery would be shipped off to the wedding location.

But Kun was happy to be flooded in work. That way he couldn’t think about the evening, no capacity in his brain left to be dedicated to worrying.

Because he had asked Dejun to meet up and meet with someone from his coven in the evening. That someone was obviously Jaehyun and the reason for the meeting was to offer the turn.

 

The other vampire entered the shop as Kun tied the last bouquet, reaching for the ribbons to finish it off.

“Ah, good evening, how may I help you?” Mrs Wang chirped between rushing back and forth to load the delivery truck.

“I’m here to meet with Kun, I’m sorry, I won’t be buying anything today.”

“Ah, that’s fine. Kun’s always bringing such handsome men to the shop, that’s like a walking advertisement. Kun, you can leave when you’re done.”

“Thank you, Mrs Wang.” Kun smiled and pulled on the ribbon, so it was nice and tight and wouldn’t open again.

 

Anam was a bit of a drive from Sinsadong, and Jaehyun had to drag Kun through the subway stations.

“Maybe it’s not such a good idea.”

“Maybe tomorrow is better?”

“What if he thinks we have ulterior motives?”

“What if he gets scared?”

“What if he thinks I’m a complete freak?”

“But Jaehyun, since Kunhang is probably joining the coven, aren’t there already enough members?”

 

Jaehyun didn’t give in to his many questions. They still arrived in Anam and went to the restaurant Dejun had suggested. Kun was quite sure he was going to throw up when the human spotted them and waved excitedly. But the purple shade his eyebags seemed to have taken over night made him overcome his own worrying in favour of worrying over Dejun.

Jaehyun was right. This was a game with time. He owed it to Dejun to tell him sooner rather than later.

“Hey Dejun!” Kun smiled warmly “This is Jaehyun. Jaehyunnie, this is Dejun!”

Dejun had gotten up and bowed quickly to the new guy “It’s nice to meet you!” Dejun seemed to vibrate out of his skin in excitement, which stunned Kun. How he was always so bright, no matter how much he must be struggling? It simply baffled him.

“The pleasure is all mine. Kun talks about you all the time.” Jaehyun grinned and Dejun glanced at Kun for a second.

“Really?”

“Really. Only good things. Did you already order?”

“No, I was waiting for you. Though… you probably don’t want to eat anything, ah, I keep forgetting.” Dejun laughed and started scanning the simple menu.

“Do you want soda, Kun?” Jaehyun asked, reading the menu on the wall.

“Yeah, I don’t care.”

“Hm, I want soda.” Jaehyun waved the waitress over and ordered with his most charming smile that probably made her fall in love with him if her heartbeat was anything to go by. It had happened before.

Dejun ordered simple fried rice, but Kun already knew his appetite was poor.

“So, you handed in your thesis?” Jaehyun asked once she was gone.

“Yeah, yesterday. Now I have to wait for it to get graded.” Dejun nodded “I mean they have eight weeks, so I probably won’t be here to get the grade, but well.” He shrugged and Kun felt his stomach clench.

He felt Jaehyun’s eyes on him and just like when he had finally revealed the truth to him a few days ago, he wouldn’t get a better opportunity to tell him.

“Right, about that…” Kun cleared his throat but was interrupted by the beaming waitress, bringing the soda and three cups.

Jaehyun started serving it, and Kun made another try.

“I thought that… uh… maybe…” Dejun blinked at him and Korean just seemed to leave his head. He tried to say it in Mandarin, guessing it might be easier, but the only thing he seemed to remember was Italian. That wasn’t going to help anyone here.

How could someone have this effect, that Kun wanted so desperately for them to be happy and with be him, yet couldn’t find the words in fear of making even a tiny mistake, when he normally knew almost every small mistake could be fixed.

Jaehyun seemed to notice the struggle and jumped in.

“The reason why I’m here is actually moral support for this one here.” Jaehyun patted Kun’s hand. “Because he would like to offer you to turn you. Into a vampire, that is. If we get approval from Joohyun. But he thinks you’ll react badly and hate him, so I’m telling you. But it’s his idea.”

Dejun looked from Jaehyun to Kun, back to Jaehyun and then to Kun again, his jaw slowly dropping lower and lower.

“Re-ally?”

“Uh yeah. I mean you obviously down have to say yes, it’s all up to you.” Kun hurriedly explained.

“But, like, you don’t think I’m really weird? I mean, everyone always told me I am, so I guess I am. You should know that. You should consider that!”

“You’re not weird, Dejun!” Kun reached over to pat his cheek, but quickly thought better of it and withdrew his hand.

They were interrupted by the food arriving and Dejun started spooning the rice into his mouth slowly. They sat in silence until the human suddenly started to sniffle and a tear started rolling down his cheek.

Kun almost screamed in panic.

“ _Dejun? What’s wrong_?” Kun immediately switched to Mandarin, not wanting everyone to be able to listen in.

“ _I… I… I’m so happy. Even if you don’t get approval, I’m so happy that you offered this to me. I… everything. I came here 15 months ago to get my Master degree and just to live my last time freely, how I wanted to, like I was just… healthy. But these last three months, ever since I met you… that really was what I was hoping to experience. That you didn’t think I was weird for thinking supernatural beings are real and you never treated me like I was… different because I was ill. I mean I didn’t tell you, but I know it was pretty obvious. But you didn’t tell me to see a doctor and stuff. And you said you don’t care when men like men and…_ ”

Dejun sobbed and Kun carefully took the spoon from him and scooted over to hug him.

Jaehyun assured the waitress that they were perfectly fine with a bright smile and she left with a questioning glance. Kun just waited for Dejun to finish. People who always put on a strong front often were the saddest inside. This was already the second time this was happening and no matter how much it broke his heart, he wanted to offer him the strength and support he needed.

Kun wanted to give him all the time he needed to let out all the frustration he must feel.

 

Eventually, Dejun calmed down and Kun encouraged him to finish the rice before it got cold.

“So, uh, if that wasn’t clear, I’d really like to accept the generous offer. Thank you.” Dejun mumbled around his rice.

“Are you free tomorrow then? We need to pitch to Joohyun and her coven. They’re the ones keeping law and order I told you about.”

“Yeah. I literally don’t have anything else to do for eight weeks. I planned to just hang around the flower shop all day.”

“Aren’t you seeing your parents?”

“I doubt it.” Dejun shrugged “So, where do we have to go? Is it like a castle?”

“Uh…” Kun recalled the house in which Joohyun’s coven lived.

“It’s in Dongdaemun…” Jaehyun muttered.

“What?” Dejun looked crestfallen. “But that’s… so lame.”

“Please don’t tell her that.”

“Right. I won’t.”

 

 

“You plan to turn him…”

“…and didn’t tell us?”

Ten and Yuta worked like a well-oiled machine when they wanted to.

“Well, I haven’t even pitched yet, so I’m telling you now.”

“The betrayal.”

“The hurt.”

“After almost a century together.”

“I’ve never seen them this extra, are they drunk?” Jungwoo suddenly interrupted, obviously trying to be quiet, but seemingly not completely in control of his body due to the shock.

“No, it sometimes happens,” Lucas assured.

“I think it’s funny.” Kunhang grinned.

“So, yeah, we’ll be at Joohyun’s tomorrow and if you’re all in favour, I’d love to add him to the coven. And by the way… Kunhang. Do you have a place to stay yet?”

“Uh…”

“So I think we should decide if we want to add Kunhang as a member, too. If you want to.” Kun smiled.

“I’d love to. I’ll even take the sofa.” Kunhang confirmed.

“Who’s in favour?” Lucas hollered and threw his hand up.

“Finally a romance for the coven leader!” Taeil also raised his hand.

“Guys, no! That’s not what this is about at all!”

“Almost paaaaradise.” Yuta started yodelling and Kun could only watch in horror.

Thank god, Yangyang wasn’t here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading~  
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: to become a vampire, you have to die, so there’s a killing scene in this which won’t result in death, but please be mindful if you’re sensitive. 
> 
> There’s a scene from Dejun’s POV that’s in cursive/italic font.
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

Kun sighed and put down the last box. It was getting late, but the decision that Kunhang had to get Sicheng’s room had been made quickly and immediately put into action.

Now, Sicheng’s room looked like an IKEA demo room and Yuta’s looked… even worse than it already had.

The whole living situation still lacked greatly because they were still one room short. Kun wasn’t alone with this opinion and Ten had excused himself from packing to scout for houses instead. It was also a lame excuse, but they really needed another place to stay, so Kun had just let it pass.

Kun could just sleep in the living room until they had it figured out, so that Dejun could take his room.

 

But sleep didn’t really come, as he rehearsed the words he was going to say to Joohyun tomorrow over and over in his head.

It was unlikely that she was going to say no. There had been so many vampires killed during the lasts months that they didn’t have to worry over the number getting to high in the least. And Kun had proven his loyalty.

But what if?

Could he really watch Dejun just… die in front of his eyes? But could he go again Joohyun, after all the trouble the city had gone through? Keeping a vampire hidden wasn’t impossible. But it wasn’t easy, either. Challenging Joohyun… Kun really didn’t want that. He hadn’t back then, and he didn’t right now.

Kun rolled over his carpet back and forth until he must have dozed off because when he turned again and opened his eyes, the sun was peeking through the window.

Finally.

 

Dejun was wearing jeans. They looked big on him, despite being skinny cut, but he looked much more put together than in his tracksuits. Kun liked both. But this was… he wasn’t used to this, this was stressing him because Dejun looked a bit too handsome for his poor, dead heart to handle.

“Hey!” Dejun smiled, but it was subdued. He was nervous, Kun could tell from his heartbeat.

“Hey, are you ready?”

“Absolutely!” Dejun wiggled a fist and almost fell down if Kun hadn’t reached out to steady him. Just in case, Kun kept his hand on his wrist, but Dejun shifted, so they were holding hands.

If Dejun wasn’t feeling obviously unwell, Kun would have freaked out and rearranged. In this situation, Dejun needed and deserved the support. Kun felt just a little overexcited, considering that this was nothing romantic at all.

Noticing Dejun struggling to even walk properly, Kun slowed down and decided against taking the subway and flagged down a taxi instead.

Dejun’s hands were shaking a little and Kun kept his hand in his back to reassure him. It was probably the nerves, not only the illness. Kun couldn’t help but wonder… what to do, if Joohyun said no? It felt like even the ride to Dongdaemun took away too many minutes of Dejun’s precious lifetime, like there was a countdown over his head that Kun could watch running out fast-paced.

 

The house in which Joohyun’s coven lived was not even close to a castle. It wasn’t shabby but… simple. Outside at least. The inside was definitely more to the emo gothic aesthetic that vampires in movies lived for. Dejun seemed to live for that, too, as he curiously eyed the flat’s door.

“Hello!” Sooyoung chirped when she ripped open the black door, that was decorated with complicated carvings, not matching the outside appearance of the building at all.

“Hey, Sooyoung. I hope we aren’t late?”

Kun knew they weren’t, but his head to mouth filter seemed to work less and less well the second Dejun was involved.

“Oh no, not at all. Hello, I’m Park Sooyoung. You must be Xiao Dejun?”

“Yes.” The other scrambled into a bow.

“Ah. Cute! Matches your cute coven, Kun!” Sooyoung cooed and herded them inside. She found many things cute and Kun had long got over being called that by her. She was taller than him, after all. He’d rather be in her ‘cute’ book than have her as an enemy.

They went to the living room, where Seulgi was spread over the sofa and quickly turned off the idol casting show she had been watching and brushed her fingers through her hair in an effort of looking more put together.

“Hello. I didn’t realise you were already coming. Uh. Welcome.”

 

It didn’t take long for all four of them to arrive and Kun was once again grateful that it was now Joohyun and her coven reigning. They were smiling and making small talk, easily getting the information they needed, such as Dejun’s age, when he had met Kun, and what he was doing in school, out of him without him even really realising. It didn’t feel like an interrogation, like every meeting with Taeyeon’s coven had. Just like a friendly chat.

The questions were a bit of a safety measure. To assure no one was fooling the vampire, trying to sneak into eternal life and superior strength to use for criminal activities.

You could bewitch the person in question. That way you could force the truth out of them, but Joohyun seemed to trust Kun’s opinion enough and skipped that. Kun genuinely appreciated it, but his nervousness wouldn’t leave.

“Well, Kun, Dejun, of course, I’m going to say yes. I owe you more than one simple turning permission for what you did. So, Dejun, I’m looking forward to seeing more of you, and, honestly, of that synthetic blood you’re working on. It could really help us a lot.”

“Yes! I’ll continue working on it!” Dejun assured with his beautiful smile and Kun wanted to cry and hug Joohyun. But he held himself back. That would probably be a bit too much. No. Not just probably. Definitely. He’d leave those reactions to Lucas.

 

“ _It sounds macabre but… do you want a final meal_?” Kun suggested as they left the house.

“ _I really want barbecue_ ,” Dejun muttered, eying the street.

_“Well, we should get some then. I’m sure blended barbecue is gross.”_

“ _I think it could work, you know, just use a bit more soybean paste to give it good flavour and texture. Over there_!” Xiaojun pointed at one of the many places that had the small inside-grills and they entered.

 

They (mainly Kun) ordered the most expensive and best cut. Kun made sure to grill the beef for Dejun, who ate until he felt sick. It wasn’t much and Kun had the waitress pack up the rest, knowing someone would appreciate it back home, even if it was sacrilegious to blend such good beef.

“ _So. When are we doing… it_?” Dejun asked, when they were back outside, strolling down the street in search of a taxi.

“ _Whenever you feel ready, honestly_.” Kun didn’t want to wait, he didn’t want to watch Dejun get worse and he seemed to wither away by the hour. But it was Dejun’s life they were restarting. He didn’t want to pressure him. It had to be scary to think you’d die and there was a lot of trust, with him believing Kun’s word that he’d wake back up.

_“I can go back to my dorm after, right? Because my Fairy Chairs are still there. And my hoodies.”_

“ _For now, you can just continue as normal. In five years or so you will have to think of a way to slip from your life and into a new one, so no one notices your lack of ageing_.”

“ _That’s enough time to grab my stuff.”_

 _“I sure hope so_.” Kun laughed.

“ _Then… do we have to wait? Because I’ve really not been feeling well today… it’ll be better after the turn, right_?” Dejun sounded unsure and Kun’s heart sunk at the idea that he was struggling so much but had kept up so well. Of course, it was no surprise had been feeling worse, seeing how weak he had become. It showed in his movements and his face.

Not waiting was exactly what he wanted to do as well. He knew he could help him get better quite easily, he wanted Xiaojun to feel better, he wanted to see him back to healthy and bright, full of energy and wild ideas.

 _“Yes. It’s like a reboot for your body, letting it return to its natural healthiest state. If you want, then we can just go to my flat_.” he suggested.

“ _Okay_.” Dejun nodded and hooked his arm into Kun’s. Purely because he was feeling dizzy, surely. But it still felt so nice.

 

Kun’s flat was quiet and he had sent a text to the group chat telling the others about the development. Ten had announced he was going to set an alarm and demanded to be introduced right away after the turning would be completed. Properly introduced, he said when Kun pointed out he already had met Dejun.

Everyone else wished good luck and Kun really appreciated it.

Now it was all about finding that set of knives he had hidden from Lucas’ self-destructing force. And keeping calm. Calm-ish.

Who was calm while looking for his knives with plans to kill a person within the next hour?

Kun might be old, but his fingers still trembled where he opened drawers and cupboards.

_“What are you looking for, can I help you?”_

Dejun had returned from the bathroom, eying the kitchen curiously. Kun climbed onto the working top and checked the shelves the furthest on top. There it was.

“ _No, it’s fine, already found it. So, you’ll have to drink blood. My blood. Which humans probably don’t find nearly as appetising as we do_.” Kun grimaced and Dejun did as well. He hopped back down on the ground “ _But we can mix it with something only…_ ”

Kun opened the fridge and revealed rows and rows of bagged blood and a carton of milk for coffee. “ _I don’t think I have anything but milk? Or coffee_?” But Dejun was lactose intolerant.

“ _Uh, I think it’ll be fine_.” Dejun nodded bravely. Kun pursed his lips.

“ _Let me at least make you a coffee. Coffee neutralises. And I have this really great coffee machine here_.” Kun beamed and gestured to his pride and joy. It was a poor effort to distract himself. He knew what he was doing. He had done this before.

Still, he was nervous, anxious.

What if he messed up somewhere? It was risky. Death was death, there were no do-overs. If he screwed up, that would be it.

“ _I noticed that right away! It’s so big_!” Kun preened under Dejun’s words and managed to ignore his trembling hands for a moment.

_“It gets as close to Italian coffee as we can here in South-Korea.”_

A few momenta later, a double Espresso was being brewed and Kun ran the smallest knife under the water.

“ _Wait! You’ll_ …” Dejun gestured towards the knife in horror.

“ _Well, we have to get the blood from somewhere and since you don’t have fangs yet_ …” Kun shrugged. The coffee was done. He turned the water off and dried the knife on the kitchen towel. He felt similarly queasy as Dejun looked, but he was determined.

Finding blood vessels was his strong point, there wasn’t much to worry about, but without a normal pulse, the blood just flowing under the skin, vampires bled differently than humans. While, in humans, arteries had much higher pressure and veins were rather unproblematic, for vampires, the two types didn’t differ. The important thing was to let it close up again before he lost too much. With his enhanced healing, there was no need to really worry. Rather than that, he had to cut deep enough to even get something.

Kun took a deep breath and ran the knife over his wrist with just enough pressure. Dejun squeaked, but Kun ignored the sting and watched as several drops of the red liquid dripped into the coffee. One only needed the smallest bit in their system to make the turn - but he wasn’t going to take any chances with this. So, he cut again before deeming it enough.

Dejun had sat down on the kitchen floor, looking paler than normal.

“ _Sorry, I can’t see blood well_.” He muttered, when Kun crouched down, kitchen towel pressed against his wrist.

“ _You could have waited in the living room_!” Kun sighed and gently pushed Dejun to lie down, holding his legs up until a bit of colour returned to his face and he could sit back up.

Dejun emptied the cup in five big gulps, making a face once it was down.

_“That was gross. Will that taste better after I become a vampire?”_

_“Yes, definitely. Unless you’re Yuta. Yuta’s like a toddler. He only likes type B blood and never pure.”_

_“Huh? Do they taste differently?”_

_“Yeah, they do, but Yuta’s the only one who only likes one type.”_

“ _Ah, I’m so curious_.” Dejun grinned. “ _I… thank you, again. I’m really excited about this chance. I’ll use it well.”_

_“Dejun, I… Please don’t feel like you owe me or anything okay? I’m doing this because I feel you really deserve it. Not because I’m expecting anything from you. At all. You also really don’t have to follow my words or anything. You’re like any other coven member, the fact that I was the one to turn you… please don’t feel burdened, okay? There’s so special bond or obligations.”_

_“Okay. But I’ll feel grateful_.” Dejun smiled. He was so precious and Kun wanted nothing but make him this special person in his life.

He couldn’t. Not when he was doing this. It wouldn’t be right. Dejun would feel pressured and used. It would be very, very wrong!

“ _Good_.” Kun breathed and put away the cup. “ _You’ll be out for 24 hours, and the best place to be passed out is a bed, I guess. So, I’d suggest moving to my room, okay_?”

_“Don’t you need your bed?”_

_“No, it’s just there because it looks creepy else, I always sleep on the floor.”_

_“What? That’s so hard, though?”_

Kun shrugged “ _Habit. Come on, my bed is all yours for now.”_

 

Dejun’s heart was racing and Kun guessed that was to be expected.

He sat on the bed a d his hoodie looking huge around him. It was probably best to make this quick because Kun felt more nervousness creep upon him. The type that made him a bit nauseous. He had lived over 400 years but there were still situations that stressed him out to this point.

“ _Okay_?” he asked, standing in front of the bed in a half squad, so he was on eye-level.

“ _Yeah. I think so? Is there anything else to remember_?” Dejun bit his lip “ _I’m not so sure about the dying part… how do I_?” he gestured carefully.

“ _I’ll break your neck, that’s the easiest way. Quick and painless. After, it’ll just feel like you’re sleeping without dreams_.” I sounded so gruesome that Kun had to wince a little, but Dejun looked calm and nodded. Most likely, he had imagined many scenarios of how this would go down. Most of them a lot crueller.

Someone who was already suffering so much on a daily basis wouldn’t be as intimidated by death as they should be at such a young age.

Kun knew he was doing exactly the right thing in allowing Dejun to have the life he deserved to live.

He only couldn’t mess up.

Had there been enough blood?

Yes, yes, there had, it would be fine, it would be in his system by now.

 _“Okay. Then I’m ready_.” Dejun’s heartbeat evened out and he watched Kun, who put his hands on both sides of his head.

“ _Close your eyes_ ,” Kun whispered and made sure Dejun actually did. He seemed so relaxed, after being on edge for all day. It was both scary and reassuring. Kun breathed because it helped him focus and flexed his arms, making sure to put in enough force without grabbing the skull too hard. He had done this many, many, many times before.

He had led armies against rebellions for years. You didn’t sit down and have tea with ill-willing enemies. It was all muscle memory at this point, yet it was different because this time he didn’t want to make even the slightest mistake. He couldn’t hurt Xiaojun! He wouldn’t be able to live with himself. As many times as he had done this, what if today was the day he miscalculated something?

This was not the time for him to freak out! Dejun would get nervous if he didn’t do anything and Kun wanted that even less. So he only gave himself two seconds to replay the movement in his head.

The crack of the spine seemed to echo in Kun’s ears, a brutal and horrifying sound that disrupted the silence of the room.

Dejun’s heart stopped beating and his breath halted.

Kun had to take a deep drag of air. After a moment, he let go of the grip he had on Dejun’s head and carefully laid him down on the bed, the body lifeless and limp now before it’d go stiff as the turn moved on.

Kun’s hand was shaking when he pulled open an eyelid to check the iris.

Blood red.

It had worked.

Kun sighed in relief.

 

The longest 24 hours in his life to this day, had been those during which he had waited for Yangyang to wake back up.

But these 24 hours seemed to beat the previous record.

                                    

“Wow, this thesis is amazing! If they can’t figure out a way to make blood with a basis like this, I’ll apply there next to tell them how it’s done.” Taeil slapped the last page of the copy Dejun had gifted Kun shut.

“Yeah, probably.” Kun nodded, not really having listened.

“Alright, let me show you the houses Ten picked out, you’re so stressed out it’s stressing me out.” Taeil sighed and pulled out his phone.

“He already found something?”

“Yes. He said so in the group chat.” Taeil laughed and opened a website. “Actually, we already have a favourite. The house is in Hoegi and in a quite poor condition, which is why it’s even vacant I’d assume. It’s a diamond in the rough. It has a giant living room and kitchen, that splits into several levels and mini-flats. We only have to check how thick the walls are. Ten said if he heard Taeyong beg even once, he was going to kill himself. I’m sure Johnny wouldn’t like that.”

Kun zoomed into the blueprint and looked at the layout.

“It’s huge! This has to be expensive as hell… or so run down that we have to fear to break through the floor.”

“Hm, we’ll have to check. But flats like this don’t normally exist in Seoul, so we have to at least give it a try. I think it’s amazing. Even better: you could fulfil all your mother-hen urges.”

Kun cleared his throat, not wanting to admit that he liked the idea of having everyone around him all the time a lot.

“The top level only has two rooms and a bathroom. Taeyong and Jaehyun could take those and we all have enough room on the other two levels.” Kun scrolled through the pictures, already making a plan in his head how to assign the rooms. They’d even have two to spare.

“If the floor’s thick enough, that is. Ten said something about Johnny maybe moving in, too.”

“Hm, we certainly have enough room.” Kun nodded. “And Hoegi is close to Anam, so Dejun doesn’t have a far way to university.”

“See? I’m telling Ten that you love it.”

 

Kun had the morning shift and Dongyoung was kind enough to sit around in his flat and keep watch – just in case something were to happen. Every time the phone rang, Kun had a mild nervous breakdown, but apparently, nothing happened. Dongyoung didn’t call a single time. He returned to the TV playing something about Alligators in Florida and Dongyoung crunching on ice cubes.

 

“I brought a smoothie!” Yuta beamed “As a welcome gift! He has an hour left, right?”

Kun rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yes. That’s very sweet of you.”

“Hm, I don’t believe that you actually think that for a second. Anyway, I’m just stepping by, you can go back to freaking out in peace and quiet in a second. Sicheng and I are going to the movies and I scouted a really nice-looking hotel on the way back, it’ll be great. Oh, and don’t worry about Ten, just give Dejun as much time as he needs, he’s just freaking out because his boyfriend is still human and he secretly wants to turn him, so he’s projecting.”

“Ah, thanks.” Kun was actually reassured by Yuta’s words.

 

_Dejun couldn’t remember when he had slept this well and felt so thoroughly rested the next morning. Getting up in the morning had been a struggle for some weeks. Well, months really. By now, it took half an hour to get to his feet without passing out because his circulation just wouldn’t keep up._

_As he slipped back into consciousness, he felt like he could run a marathon._

_He heard the traffic outside the house passing by, much louder than he would expect traffic to be. Maybe there was a window open? He smelt laundry detergent, strong and fresh, and flowers, intense smelling flowers. And there was someone breathing close by. Who… there shouldn’t be anyone in his dorm room, the dorm had extremely strict security._

_Wait._

_He wasn’t in his dorm room. He didn’t feel worn out, because… his heart wasn’t beating anymore. Dejun blinked his eyes open, every detail clear and sharp, the colours seeming more saturated._

_He sat up and no dizziness took over, no blackness closed in from the sides of his vision, and there was no throbbing in his head._

_Dejun looked to where the breathing was coming from and found Kun, who was looking straight back at him._

_Excitement filled him, like every time he saw the other Chinese. Giddiness, that normally let his pulse pick up just a little. But he no longer had a pulse._

_“Hi!” Dejun couldn’t hold a giggle and Kun’s earnest expression broke into one of his soft, handsome smiles. How he hadn’t decided Dejun was too childish, too airheaded, borderline insane, and a waste of time to be around – he wasn’t sure. But it seemed like Kun genuinely didn’t think he was any of that. So Dejun had also started to think he wasn’t. He could just be himself and be appreciated when he was with Kun._

_It was amazing. Kun was amazing._

_“Hey. How are you feeling?”_

_Dejun did another quick check. No nausea, not soreness…_

_“Great! Awesome! I… don’t think I’ve ever felt this good.” He looked at his hands and the skin didn’t look dry and incredibly pale for once. Well, it was still pale, but not sickly so, and there was some flesh over his bones. Dejun carefully felt for his ribs that always seemed to want to stick out, more so recently. He could still feel them, but they were covered with more tissue._

_“I’m glad!” Kun sounded endlessly relieved. From how Dejun had gotten to know him, he had probably worried. It was charming, how compassionate Kun was. Selfless. A man of many strengths and charms. And handsome._

_And now, Dejun would be with him for the foreseeable future. It was a dream come true in many ways._

 

Dorm security wasn’t really interested when Dejun rolled two suitcases past them, clearing out his room that he’d still officially be leasing until the end of the term. In his arm was the pot with the succulents.

Kun took one of the cases from him without having to be asked and Dejun sent him a smile. The dark circles were gone, his skin looked plum and face sculpted.

He was possibly even more handsome than the first day Kun had met him and he felt himself falling just a bit more when he should be doing the opposite.

 

But it seemed impossible not to.

 

After the shock of getting to know the whole coven in a bunch, Dejun started integrating smoothly. Everyone seemed to be eager to teach him the ins and outs of being a vampire and Kun happily stepped away to let Dejun find more friends in the group, which he seemed to be more than euphoric to do.

While more people were around him, Kun kept finding himself staring at Dejun, not seeing anything else in the whole room. It was like there was a spotlight on him, leaving everybody in the dark, only showing his beauty, his gentleness, and endless excitement.

Without illness holding him back, he was up and about, exploring the city and searching for supernatural he hadn’t known about before.

He still came to visit Kun in the flower shop, though his washed-out tracksuits were very quickly replaced. He seemed to grow more confident in himself by the day, no longer hiding in huge oversized sweaters, but looking even more handsome in jeans and graphic t-shirts that fitted the summer temperatures a whole lot better.

Yuta apparently got his hands on him, and one day he was suddenly walking around in a deep shade of petrol hair, that reflected in multiple tones in the sun and Kun maybe couldn’t stop staring.

 

The house in Hoegi proved to be every bit a diamond in the rough, as Taeil had said, but the walls were thick and the floors didn’t break under the stress-test (Lucas and Jungwoo had jumped violently to conduct it).

With so many people in the coven, they could just do some renovation work.

Kun had somehow ended up assigned door to door with Dejun, sharing the bathroom. Probably not by chance, if the other coven members’ grins were anything to go by.

 

It turned out Dongyoung was good with his hands. He knew how to completely renovate a bathroom, from tiles to shower, he knew how to connect electrics, he knew how to lay flooring… and he knew how to command people around.

Plus, he was stuck at home and bored to death, and while Yuta was, too, he seemed much less energetic about the renovation. It was only reasonable to assign Dongyoung as the project leader. Yuta and Dejun were the others not really busy with anything, they ended up spending most of their time in Hoegi getting bossed around.

Because Dejun was there, Kun felt much more willing to come by and work his arms sore with rolling paint onto ceilings and walls or have Dongyoung nag about wrong patterned flooring.

They decided to paint everything white, so they wouldn’t have to do it again when they’d unavoidably move.

White paint still left just as many stains as any other paint, which Kun had learnt the hard way. After losing his pretty new pair of trousers, Kun now always came dressed in old stuff ready to be thrown out.

Today, Dejun had a baggy old T-Shirt on, the dark blue washed out, with a half-peeled Adidas print. Someone had written Fairy on the back, it was probably Sicheng because the characters were a bit off. Sicheng’s handwriting was unique to himself, a mixture between old and new Hanzi.

They had music playing from Dejun’s phone with a speaker connected, Disney songs flooding the empty room. You could hear Dongyoung screeching for Lucas to stop in the background. What he was supposed to stop was unknown but there was a wide rage of options Kun wouldn’t bother exploring any further right now. They were setting up the kitchen. Or trying to. God knew if anything would survive Lucas trying to read Ikea instructions with an electric screwdriver in hand.

Kun dunked his roller into the paint and scraped off the access on the net inside. The assumption that taking more of it would make the process of getting the ugly old colour covered quicker was wrong because it just flew everywhere and left an uneven pay-off.

He looked up to go back to his corner, but Dejun stood in front of him and pressed his fingers against Kun’s cheek. It felt wet and Kun realised he had just painted on his face when he started laughing and his fingers pulled back, coated in white.

“Hey!” Kun immediately leaned down to his own bucket of paint to take revenge, but Dejun was already running.

Kun dropped his roller and gave chase down the hallway and past the living room, down the stairs, where renovations were still lacking behind. Dejun trapped himself in the room destined for Yuta and Sicheng, still missing the whole bathroom that was just another empty room.

Dejun stopped and turned, holding still willingly and Kun tapped his nose and added whiskers on both cheeks.

“Hey! That’s more than I did!” Dejun whined, but didn’t try to rub the colour off. His hair looked almost black but with a mystic twist in the low light in the room. His pouty lips caught Kun’s eyes for just a moment too long. They were all alone. Dongyoung and Lucas were audibly fighting over the screwdriver now and Taeyong and Taeil were laying the parquet on the highest floor, strictly following Dongyoung’s instructions, of course.

It’d be easy to kiss him, Kun’s brain supplied. No one would interrupt, and Dejun’s lips were so inviting. He’d just have to lean forward a little bit…

Instead, he turned.

“Come on, my paint must be drying.”

 

In the evening, Kun looked into the mirror for the first time, and saw a white heart on his cheek, the paint cracked where his face moved whenever he smiled.

 

Dejun must have meant it in a friendly way. Platonic. It wasn’t like he reciprocated his feelings. Kun couldn’t tell him. It wouldn’t be right.

 

“ _Why couldn’t it be right, literally tell me one single reason and no more of the owe him life shit.”_ Yangyang groaned into the phone.

_“It just is.”_

_“Sounds like you’re scared of rejection and making up excuses, when really you’re just too chicken.”_

_“I am not.”_

_“Booook bok bok bok boooook.”_

_“Stop it, I’m disowning you.”_

_“Like I’d ever inherit anything. Worst deal of my life anyway. Come on, give me his phone number, I’ll talk to him for you.”_

_“Most certainly not.”_

“ _Then give me… Yuta’s. He seems in on my brilliant plan. Or Ten? He sounds like a reasonable person_.”

“ _Also no. And Yuta doesn’t speak Mandarin_.” Yuta did speak a bit of Mandarin, picked up from Sicheng, but Yangyang didn’t need to know that. Meanwhile, just the idea of Ten and Yangyang together sent Kun into a nervous breakdown. Thank god that’d never happen!

“ _No problem, my Korean became a lot better and with some Google translate I don’t think there’ll be any problem.”_

_“Still no.”_

_“And Ten speaks both Mandarin and English! I could talk to him.”_

_“No.”_

_“Come on. It’s been what? Six weeks since you turned him? So almost five pathetic months of pining and me trying to tell you to go for it. Why are you so set on dying alone?”_

_“I won’t die. That’s why you won’t inherit anything.”_

_“Goddamn. Alright, give me your address!”_

_“What for?”_

_“Because you moved and I can’t send you letters anymore? Hell, I’m not sending a package of surprises from the closest sex shop_.” That seemed like a fair reason. After four weeks of renovation, only two rooms weren’t finished yet, so Kunhang and Taeil were still in the old flat for now. But everyone else was already happily enjoying the beautiful new rooms and shared fridge, always stocked with blood and smoothies.

 

Another place Dejun had taken to like a fish to water was the Chinese vampires’ regulars table.

Luhan liked having he ego stroked, so he had very willingly answered any question about werewolves that Dejun could think of because he got nothing but compliments and awestruck expressions in return. Even Zitao, who couldn’t usually be bothered to join them, got lured into joining them the first evening.

Kun found that he didn’t feel as much in need for strong alcohol to deal with the craziness that was this table when he could sit and watch Dejun’s eyes grow wider and sparklier the more he spun his theory about Fairies living in Seoul with Yixing and Xuanyi.

“ _Just think about it! There’s vampires and there’s werewolves. Fairies have magic. More magic. They can become invisible and possibly be around us all the time and we’d never know_.” Dejun waved his hands.

“ _Dude, like… it’s so true! If they’re invisible… holy shit, I never considered that._ ” Yixing nodded solemnly.

“ _Maybe I should offer them something, too? If they keep the flowers pretty… I should be thanking them_!” Xuanyi contemplated.

“ _I always give them honey and my flowers last a lot longer than Kun usually says they would_ ,” Dejun explained. Kun felt the other two’s eyes on him for a moment and started figuratively sweating under his collar.

He always brought home the flowers they’d have to throw away. Mrs Wang also took many of them home, as did the other workers. But Kun now always make sure to make pretty bouquets with them because Dejun so genuinely appreciated them. There was a growing collection of vases in his room. His room was truly stunning and Kun used that as an excuse to spend time there.

The flowers were under a closer eye than some new-born children, Dejun played them the Nutcracker’s flower waltz daily because as flowers they must love that. So, they did last quite a few days, keeping their pedals colourful for a bit longer.

Though Kun still highly doubted it was Fairies doing that, he had long stopped voicing that opinion. Maybe it was Fairies. How should he know?

 _“I’ll make sure to place honey, then. Where do I get honey_?” Xuanyi looked puzzled.

“ _Grocery store_.” Yixing giggled. “ _I always wonder how you vampires actually survive, you’re so clueless about everything_.”

“ _Hey! Nothing ever changed for, like 300 years, and suddenly humans make all this electronic stuff_?” Xuanyi complained. “ _Of course I’m confused_!”

 

Kun was busy scrubbing down the bathroom when he heard familiar voices he hadn’t heard in quite a while.

“Dude, this place is awesome! Huge! I’ve never seen a flat this gigantic!”

“Please stop lying, Nana, we all watched the Heirs together.”

“I’m talking about real life. Don’t tell me you out of all people have.”

“Well, for a fact I have. Because I used to train at the police department four and the training facilities there were huge as fuck.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“Does, too.”

“Does not.”

“Does – ow, Renjun stop biting me!”

“Guys, can we please…”

“Shup up Mark, you don’t run this show here.”

Kun dropped his rugs and rushed to the living room.

“Kun-Ma!” Three voices echoed in unison.

“I told you not call me Ma…”

But he didn’t really mean it, as he was tackled in a group hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit, I can’t believe it took me this long to write the 00 liners in, I shall crawl in shame… and it’s only a short cameo, too. There’s too many people in this AU, someone send help.
> 
>  
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been very excited to publish this one, we have a big surprise coming~
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

It had been eight weeks since that Monday between Joohyun becoming the official leader of the covens in the town and Kun turning Dejun. Meaning, today was the day the grade on the thesis was to be revealed.

Kun wasn’t sure why he felt like he was going to pass out from nervousness. It wasn’t his grade, but he still did as he watched Dejun refresh the page of Korea Uni, where the field was still empty, and empty, and came up empty again.

“ _Maybe he forgot.”_

_“I’m sure he didn’t.”_

_“Maybe it was so bad he won’t even bother.”_

_“Your work was brilliant_!” Kun assured and rubbed Dejun’s shoulder as he hit refresh again.

“ _May-ah_!” Dejun squeaked when the box filled in.

‘100%’ stood there in red letters.

Dejun hit refresh again, the number stayed unchanged.

“ _This can’t be right…”_

 _“Of course it is! You did amazing work! Congratulations_!” Kun pried Dejun’s hand from the mouse before he could click refresh again. Dejun’s face was blank, eyes wide, and he kept staring at the screen.

“ _R-really? I… oh my god_!” Dejun screamed the last part and jumped from his chair and right into Kun, who got headbutted. Hard.

They both groaned and held their respective aching body parts.

“ _Sorry! Ah, I’m so sorry! I just… it was thanks to you_!” Kun suddenly felt himself be hugged and he quickly opened his eyes do confirm it was Dejun pressing into him.

He wanted to just freeze time and stay exactly like this forever. Dejun was just the little bit smaller than him to have the perfect size for a hug, in his opinion, his body no longer skinny to the bone, but strong and solid under his hands.

“ _We should celebrate! At the regulars’ table place_!” Dejun suggested.

“ _EXO?”_

 _“Yes! With everyone_!”

Kun wrinkled his nose. Would Junmyeon die from a heart attack at having half a coven of vampires invade his place?

“ _Party? What, where, when_?” Ten popped his head into the room.

 

So, Junmyeon wasn’t asked for his opinion. They just marched past his two bouncers – one mildly amused, the other grumpy as ever.

Ten and Johnny had tagged along, as well as Jaehyun, Taeyong, and Kunhang, who had then complained about third-wheeling until Taeil had had mercy with him and joined as well.

Kun had been to EXO many, many times. He had also been to other clubs. Normally being to a club meant keeping a hawk-eye on the coven to make sure Taeyong and Jaehyun didn’t get themselves into a public indecency lawsuit, Lucas knocked himself out, or someone got lost.

Today, however, Taeil had offered to take that task from his hands and Kun found himself well past tipsy on the dance floor. Yes, the dance floor. Kun could dance, contrary to popular belief, but he rarely got the chance to. He was between Ten, because Johnny had insisted that he definitely could not dance, and Dejun.

But his eyes were only on the latter.

The dye in his hair was faded, but in the colourful light, it looked mesmerising. The dark shadow around his eyes made them even sharper than normally. He kept looking up at Kun through his lashes, each time making Kun feel a little hotter, a little more lightheaded.

Only his dancing ruined the image a little, excited and a bit sloppy from the alcohol. But it suited him so well, that Kun couldn’t bring himself to laugh about it, even if he tried.

It’d be so easy to just snake an arm around him, lean down, and kiss him.

With the alcohol buzzing in his system, the idea didn’t even seem that bad. Dejun kept throwing him looks like he might be thinking the same.

But reason won, and Kun stayed for himself, away from Dejun and his tempting body. After all, he didn’t even know if Dejun had ever been with someone. From the little snippets, he had heard before, he doubted it. He couldn’t ruin that for him when they were both drunk and Dejun probably didn’t even feel the same.

It was just Kun’s imagination interpreting things how it wanted to see them, not reality.

Still, lost in Dejun’s aura he didn’t even notice how time passed, only when the dance floor had cleared out so much that there were only a few people left, did Kun check his watch.

5 am.

 

“Where’s Ten?” Kun leaned heavily onto Taeil, who was nursing a coke. He had Dejun by his elbow, so he didn’t get lost, though Kun wasn’t sure who of them was less drunk at this point. The drinks had kept flowing all evening, Luhan was more than generous with the alcohol for his friends.

“He left hours ago with Johnny, to get fucked.” Taeil deadpanned and took another sip of coke.

“Oh. And Kunhang?”

“Also left, but to fuck.”

“Oh.” Even Kun’s drunk brain supplied where Jaehyun and Taeyong had to be according to this logic.

“Then we should go home.” Kun decided, his words slurring.

“Hm, you think so?” Taeil raised an eyebrow and downed the rest of the soda.

“Ye-es.”

 

Kun woke with the hangover from hell. Which he should have expected.

He wasn’t sure why he was on the carpet in Dejun’s room, he didn’t even know why Dejun had one this big, but he was still in his clothing from last night, or morning, though the memories were a bit blurry.

Dejun’s bed was empty, so Kun peeled himself from the ground and wobbled to the bathroom, where he showered for 20 minutes. After that, he felt slightly less terrible and shuffled to the kitchen, where It seemed like Kunhang wasn’t in a much better state, slumped over the kitchen table.

Kun nodded in greeting and they just let the afternoon pass in silent understanding, half asleep on the kitchen table. Occasionally, someone visited and made fun of them, but Kun really couldn’t care less.

He only wanted quiet.

 

“I’m never drinking again,” Kunhang mumbled when they felt back up to moving, well past 6 pm.

“Don’t make such promises, you can never keep them. How old were you again?”

“101 this year.” Kunhang held his head under the tap and turned it on to drink.

“Hm yeah. You’ll definitely be drinking again next time Meiqi suggests drinking games.” Kun slowly nodded.

“Maybe.”

 

“Why was the summer break so short?” Chenle cried, biro in hand and the sheet with characters to practice still depressingly empty.

“It was a whole month. Come on, do the repetitions and I’ll test you after.” Kun encouraged.

“I wanna quit! I’ll get casted and become an idol!” Chenle lamented.

“I don’t think companies accept dolphins?” Jisung wrinkled his nose. There was a streak of blue over it, ink from his own pen which he kept fiddling with as he stared at the mock questions Dongyoung had thought of for and then dumped on him.

“Shut up, it’ll be great. I’ll get super-rich and have fans adore me and write fan fiction about!” Chenle slammed his hand on the table and Kun sighed softly.

“Well, you’re already super-rich and much too annoying for anyone to like.” Jisung snarled and a second later, the two were in a petty argument that rivalled those Yuta and Ten loved to hold.

Dejun stalked through the living room, a thick envelope from the university in hand, obviously trying not to get noticed. Chenle had screeched into his ear the first time and Kun suspected he was scared of the two high-schoolers.

Kun glanced at the envelope in interest.

 

It turned out to be a recommendation his professor had made for him. It was the project he had worked for, only this time, he would be working with the team of scientists actually in on the development of the blood.

Of course, they’d want Dejun on the team!

 

Kun helped Dejun write his application. It was probably more a formal thing, Kun doubted they’d not take him. But Dejun had doubts.

So, Kun reassured him over and over. But he could only use words when he really wanted to pat his cheek, hug him, maybe kiss him, to show him how much he was worth all of that.

But he couldn’t.

Even Yuta had stopped trying to make the “Romance of the century” happen, but that might be because Sicheng had told him to give it more time.

Not to mention Kun was perfectly content with staring longingly after Dejun for the rest of his immortal life. Oh, he loved lying to himself.

 

But he had forgotten one variable in that calculation.

Because there hadn’t seemed to be any reason whatsoever to worry about him.

 

Kun was engrossed in the book on Leukaemia, Dejun had borrowed him, when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” He heard Jungwoo call from the kitchen, so he didn’t bother moving and kept reading.

“Hello?”

“Hi! Ah! Are you Kim Jungwoo?”

Kun dropped the book, that slammed on the ground with a loud thud.

“Yes, uh, how do you know my name?”

“Kun at some point told me at. I studied them all. Is Kun here?” The accent was extremely thick in every word, the grammar stiff and awkward, like in someone who had only been learning Korean for a little.

Kun was already in the hallway, slipping over the newly parqueted flooring.

There, in the door, he stood, in the flesh, smiling brightly.

“ _Yangyang? What the fuck?”_

 _“Kun-Ma! Is that how you greet me? I’m hurt! I’ll report for child abuse_!”

“Yangyang? You’re Kun’s Turnee?” Jungwoo gasped, having picked up the name from the Mandarin.

“The one and only. _Well, not only_. The OG version then. _Here to make_ the miracle romance _happen_!” Yangyang switched wildly between languages, beamed, and pushed a suitcase into the hallway.

Kun just stared in horror.

“What? Miracle romance?” Jungwoo asked, oblivious of the train wreck that was starting to happen right in front of his eyes. Possibly also due to the language barrier. Kun really wished he had a language barrier. Or that Dejun would have a language barrier. Something – anything - to stop Yangyang.

“ _How did you even get here? How are you alive? The airport is like a high-security prison – but worse_.”

“ _Of course I wasn’t reckless enough to fly. I smuggled myself in a container on a boat from Hongkong to Incheon. I mean, it definitely wasn’t very comfortable and it took me four weeks from Dusseldorf to here, but hey_ …”

Kun sat down in the middle of the entrance hall.

“ _I survived just fine! Seriously, you should try it!”_

 _“You could have gotten yourself killed_!” Kun groaned into his hands, slapped over his face.

“Kun? Are you okay? What is happening, how did he get here?” Jungwoo asked, not fluent in Mandarin.

“On a boat. I don’t even know.”

“Boat?” Jungwoo looked up “Oh… he’s… either insane or…. a genius.”

“No, definitely insane.”

 

No one was really too surprised, or too bothered, when Yangyang introduced himself brightly. The second two and two were put together who exactly this was, though, all hell broke loose.

Kun so desperately wished the coven was all young, Korean vampires, who had never left the country or were bored enough to pick up a new language. The joke was on him because he had built up this coven from foreigners and old vampires.

The Chinese vampires and Ten were at an advantage, obviously, immediately bombarding Yangyang with questions.

Jaehyun and Johnny spoke English fluently, as did Yangyang, and Taeyong and Dongyoung understood enough to get around, it would seem.

And just when he wanted to sigh in endless relief because at least Yuta wouldn’t be able to really communicate with his Turnee, Yangyang and Yuta figured out they both spoke French.

So, the only one genuinely clueless, because his second language was Japanese, was Jungwoo. Possibly the most harmless person out of the coven.

It was like watching the Titanic sink.

All Kun had left to do, was wait for Dejun to return and watch Yangyang ruin his carefully constructed friendship without any feelings at all involved.

He’d have to at least try and stop him.

Yangyang was the star of the show, retelling his time boarding a container in Hongkong, when Dejun and Kunhang returned from their shopping at Daiso. Yangyang interrupted himself and Yuta said something in French which let Kun regret not having kept his knowledge of the language as fresh when half of it went over his head.

But he knew that Yuta had just announced this was his crush and Yangyang looked like a shark that smelt blood.

He hopped off the sofa with a brilliant smile and Kun could only watch and hope he wasn’t going to get completely humiliated.

“What’s going on here?” Kunhang asked, eying the almost complete coven in the living room. It was Thursday and not the typical meet-up-socialising day. The question was justified. He also finally noticed the stranger, that was waltzing towards them.

“ _Hello, I’m Liu Yangyang, it’s so, so terribly nice to meet you_.” Yangyang chirped, eying both of them before he settled on Dejun.

“ _You must be Xiao Dejun? And you’re probably Wong Kunhang_?”

Dejun was surprised. Lucky for Kun, the rest of the coven at least didn’t know that he had never sent Yangyang a picture but his Turnee had just put that together from descriptions.

“ _Yes! You’re Kun’s Turnee_?” Dejun replied with one of his pretty but guarded smiles.

“ _Oh, the hurt. Is that really all I am_?” Yangyang pressed a hand to his chest dramatically “ _I hate being defined by my more handsome and skilled coven member. Though it’s understandable, after screaming his name for the whole night, most don’t forget him_.”

“ _Yangyang_!” Kun screeched and scrambled off the sofa.

Dejun looked stunned by that unnecessary revelation and really, who wouldn’t.

“I **will** disown you and throw you right onto the next boat to Japan and then you can see how you get off that island.” Kun hissed in Italian, hoping no one would be able to understand, while he held the ear of his struggling and dramatically crying Turnee “If you make Dejun uncomfortable or this awkward or even dare to say something that is personal and none of your business.”

Kun noticed everyone, including Dejun, was staring at them with varying degrees of surprise to amusement. He let go of Yangyang’s ear and threw them a bright smile.

“How about Yuta makes some great smoothies for us?”

“Disgusting!” Ten groaned, which broke the spell.

 

They put Yangyang into one of the free rooms and thanked the heaves they had them, and it seemed like Kun’s threat had actually worked. His Turnee was busy figuring out how things worked with the help of the whole coven, and trying to get a grasp on the language. Lucky for him, Joohyun and her coven were old enough to be multilingual to understand how exactly he had washed up in South Korea after Kun had dropped him off in Dongdaemun to explain himself, but please not drag him into illegal trafficking.

 

After two days of no incidents, Kun thought himself in safety. It was actually nice to have Yangyang around after so many years. Not like he had really changed physically… or mentally… but it was still a different quality of friendship.

 

“ _Is there a meaning to sunflowers_?” Dejun asked, fingers ghosting over the yellow pedals, just a bit too old to still be sold. His hair was a dark, dark shade of red, which made his skin look a bit warmer. It was stunning. Yuta had really out-done himself.

“ _Yes, of course. Every flower has a meaning_.” Kun smiled “ _Giving it to someone means they make the sun shine for you, they stand for zest for life, happiness, and warmness. And you can give them by themselves, especially the bigger ones_.”

“ _They get bigger than this_?” Dejun looked up from where he was scenting the blossoms.

“ _Oh yes, a lot. Those are… well, lower middle in size? They grow taller than me if you let them_.” Kun laughed when Dejun’s eyes widened.

“ _Wow! That’s amazing! How are there so many flowers, but every time I learn something, it’s new and different_?”

“ _Just as there’s many emotions, there’s many flowers to express them. Come on, I’m done here and we need to pick up raspberries for Yuta.”_

_“Oh, yes, I need some sweets for the lab, since it’s my first day tomorrow.”_

_“Good idea.”_

_“I need them to like me_.” Dejun nodded to himself, his hair bobbing a little.

“ _I’m sure they’ll do that anyway_.”

Dejun didn’t reply but send Kun one of his few unreadable expressions.

_“I’ll still buy sweets because not everyone is as wonderful a person as you.”_

 

“ _Look! They have an aquarium!”_

_“Hm, yes, those exist in places.”_

_“In a mall!”_

_“Hm, yes, great.”_

_“You’re not even looking! Kun-Ma_!” Yangyang suddenly thrust something between Kun’s eyes and his novel, where the main witness had just turned out to be the murderer, rudely interrupting his reading.

“ _Yes. Coex Mall. I know_.” Kun sighed and looked up at the younger vampire.

_“Can we go there tomorrow? Please? It’s super cool, with sharks and stuff.”_

_“I guess… I’ll ask the others if they want to come.”_

“ _No. I just want to go with you. We haven’t had much time just with the two of us_.” Yangyang pouted and Kun nodded. He wasn’t wrong, but it hadn’t seemed to bother him very much as he and most coven members got on like a house on fire.

_“I have work until 7, so after that? 7:30?”_

_“I’ll have to check. But I think that works.”_

“ _You have to check? For what? If you’ll be taking a shower then_?” Kun laughed.

“ _Don’t make fun of me, Korean’s hard_!” Yangyang whined.

 

So, Kun found himself in front of the colourful entrance to the aquarium in the mall at 7:25 the next day. He smiled at the texts from Dejun, that announced his first day had been good and everyone was really nice and had liked his sweets.

Couples were apparently the main target group of the aquarium if the countless boys and girls holding hands, that passed him, were anything to go by. Ah, dates… Kun wouldn’t mind having one of those…

_“Eh? Kun?”_

Kun turned and saw Dejun hurry towards him. He was in a light brown trench coat from under which a dark red sweater that matched his hair and a pair of dark slacks peeked. Overall, he was like a vision and Kun needed to snap himself back to reality before he started drooling.

_“Hi. What are you doing here?”_

“ _Oh, Yangyang asked me to meet up and do some bonding. I wanted to ask you to come along, but he said he wanted it to be only us! But now you’re here, too, that’s even better_!” Dejun beamed and Kun internally screamed, “ _Speaking of, where is he_?” Dejun looked around like he was expecting Yangyang still to come. Bless him.

“ _Oh, I’m pretty sure he won’t show up. He told me to come only the two of us should go as well. Guess it’s us two then_.” Kun smiled like he wasn’t freaking out because he had let himself be set up for a date like a complete fool. “ _Hope that’s okay with you_?”

“ _Like a date_?” Dejun asked and Kun couldn’t hold the small sputter. “ _Ah, sorry, I was just… not like this is a date or anything, I didn’t want to imply that_.” Dejun twirled and wandered towards the ticket booth.

Yeah.

Totally not a date.

 

_“Look! The turtle!”_

Kun had somehow made it through most of the exhibit without making a fool of himself by cooing over Dejun being amazed by fish and wildlife. Or squish his cheek, or something similar completely inappropriate.

However, they had now reached the tunnel that led through the biggest tank, the one with sharks, rays, and turtles. The blue light accentuated the harsh lines of Dejun’s face in all the best ways. His hair was shining purple and he kept pointing out fish and Kun tried to find them, but his gaze was always pulled back to Dejun, finding him more interesting than even the most exotic shark could dream to be.

No offence. Sharks were great and as misunderstood as vampires.

“ _Wait_!” Dejun’s head snapped around. “ _Do you think there might be mermaids? Like… Arielle?”_

_“Uh…”_

_“Oh my god! I have to read up on that…”_ Dejun muttered and Kun couldn’t help but chuckle and ruffle his hair.

“ _Do you want to get coffee after this_?” Kun suggested. “ _Or… milkshakes? Since it’s so late already_.”

“ _Yeah, that’d be great_.” Dejun smiled so softly and Kun had to remind himself this wasn’t a date. Just two bros hanging out…

 

 

Overall, sharing a bathroom with Dejun was no problem. Kun showered in the mornings, Dejun in the evenings, so there wasn’t much trouble with getting in each other’s way. They both kept it moderately clean and all the space was evenly divided.

And it really shouldn’t be Kun’s business, but he couldn’t help it when that bottle just… stood there. In the shower, where it probably didn’t belong.

Lube. Strawberry flavoured and ¾ empty already.

The water was off and Kun just stood there and stared at it as very un-wished-for images started invading his mind. His morning wood twitched, and he immediately turned the shower on, turning the temperature setting to the lowest it went.

 

 

[from: Hendeririry; sent to: the bestest coven in Seoul, plus Johnny; 08:37 pm]

My bdays in 3 days, so Ill celebrate that.

Every1 is invited. I also asked the little pests.

I’ll get booze. Yuta, Lucas said he could put karaoke on your console.

[from: LuCAS; sent to: the bestest coven in Seoul, plus Johnny; 08:37 pm]

Fuck yeah!

Sing Star!

[from: KimDongYoung; sent to: the bestest coven in Seoul, plus Johnny; 08:39 pm]

Kunhang, Chenle and Jisung are MINORS.

[from: Hendeririry; sent to: the bestest coven in Seoul, plus Johnny; 08:39 pm]

They dnt get alc then.

[from: WinWin; sent to: the bestest coven in Seoul, plus Johnny; 08:40 pm]

What’s a minor?

 

 

Kun sighed and stared at the collection of bottles on the living room table. Unless they were expecting another two covens to come, this was way too much. There also was excessive Happy Birthday decoration all over the place. At the very least, someone had used their brain and covered the expensive sofa in a plastic throw-on.

Probably Taeyong.

No one else seemed particularly worried over the coma-inducing amounts of alcohol. Jungwoo had handed out fun party hats to everyone, including the already arrived Jeno and Jaemin. Jaehyun was testing the Karaoke, which seemed to work fine.

Kun was not drinking today. Someone had to make sure Chenle and Jisung would leave save and sound at 9 pm. And the hangover was also never worth it. Not to mention, he needed to be in control of himself. Definitely no alcohol!

 

Donghyuck brought a huge ice cream cake and after Lucas turned up the music, the drinks started flowing. Kun checked there was only soda reaching the two minors, but everyone was on their best behaviour. Taeil secured the high score on the karaoke game and remained unbeaten, despite not even bothering to do a second round.

It was all fun and games.

Until it was 9 pm and Kun had pushed Chenle and Jisung into a cab to get home to their parents, safe, sound, and without a drop of alcohol in their system, just possibly long tear ear-damage.

“Kun! We’re doing shots!” Someone – Ten? – hollered and Kun suddenly found himself three shots in, Renjun’s arm over his shoulders from one side, Johnny loudly laughing on his other.

Five shots in, he was roped into doing an Eros Ramazzotti cover with Yangyang.

Seven shots in, Ten and Taeyong had started a striptease for reasons unknown, while Pony boomed from the speakers and Kun was thankful there were no immediate neighbours that’d call the police on them.

Nine shots in, Kun found himself in a circle on the floor. He wasn’t sure when the Karaoke stopped and spin the bottle started, but he was much too sluggish to care. Sicheng was also super comfortable to lean onto because holding himself upright was just ridiculously much work.

Only truth was allowed because dare had ended with a detached limb before and that was simply annoying, so Kun had forbidden it.

Kun only remembered having confirmed that he currently had a huge crush on someone, and then there had been more shots and Sicheng had also left at some point and it was getting lonely and sad.

_“Kun-Kun! I was looking for you! You were gone all evening!”_

Dejun slumped half on top of Kun and he felt himself get gripped in snake-hold.

“ _I was here_ ,” Kun argued weakly. Dejun felt nice and comfortable and why exactly was Kun not telling him he was absolutely and completely in love with him? He was right here. Kun should tell him right now!

“ _Really? I was with Yangyang, he makes reaaaaally yummy… things. It’s yummy_!” Dejun snuggled against Kun and what had he wanted to tell him just now?

“ _Hm_.” Kun hummed, laziness taking over. There was TVXQ playing now and someone was dancing. Was that Yuta? Kun didn’t really know and he also didn’t care, when he could just focus on Dejun instead, so close and smelling so nice. Of flowers.

“ _You sound really hot when you speak Italian. It’s – like – the language of love? It’s so hot_.” Dejun’ breath ghosted against Kun’s cheek as he kept trying to aim for his ear but missed.

_“Hm. I can teach you.”_

“ _Love_?” Dejun giggled.

“ _Yeah_.” Kun breathed. “ _I can teach you_.” He should probably stop talking, he wasn’t even making sense to himself. You couldn’t teach love.

“ _You’re so funny_ ,” Dejun announced, before starting to uncontrollably giggle.

Kun found that good enough. He was really funny, after all. Probably.

Dejun fell into a drunk rant, like last time, only this time it was about merpeople maybe having shark tails or lots of fat, to keep warm, or maybe looking really fierce and if he could go dive to find them since he didn’t need to breathe?

It just became a blur and Kun didn’t remember when Dejun had announced he was tired and dragged Kun along, because he wasn’t going to go anywhere without Kun. No one was sober enough to notice or even stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Xiaojun at the COEX aquarium being a whole cutie](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DmKby8NU4AAqeZI.jpg)  
> [Yangyang after Kun threatened to ship him off to Japan](https://66.media.tumblr.com/25151ba92f20ae9bd52601526ccc303e/tumblr_pm1gx2V7VW1vaozwio4_540.gif) gif by Nakamotens.
> 
> Also, I saw a few comments asking for Yangyang from pretty early on, and then it got more and more, and I had already written this before even the first person asked, but we apparently think alike. But I still didn’t want to spoil it, so I hope I misled you all haha.  
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s smut (yes, gasp!) at the end of this chapter, if you don’t want to read that, don’t read below the line and return for the next chapter ^^
> 
> Re-worked 10/19 – cursive is spoken in Mandarin, normal is spoken in Korean

Kun woke up to two things being very off.

First of all, the underground was squishy and soft, not like his beloved carpet, but rather a mattress. Weird.

Second of all, there was someone clinging to his side one leg half-tugged between his, and arm over his chest, hair tickling his cheek. It wouldn’t be a problem, if the leg wasn’t pressing against his morning wood in a way that made Kun’s body demand friction, ASAP.

At the same time, his skull throbbed when he blinked his eyes open and found the room flooded with morning sun. Definitely not his room, his windows faced South and West.

Kun reached down and tried pushing the leg away from his dick so he could go back to sleep. The person stirred in sleep a bit, tightening instead so it was pressing into him in all the right ways that made Kun want to softly moan. Kun felt the other press against his side, grinding his own erection against him.

Kun was suddenly very awake and turned to see who was next to him.

It was Dejun and Kun wasn’t even surprised. In another setting this would be great: snuggle with Dejun without anyone knowing. But Dejun unconsciously kept grinding his hips up and Kun panicked. With a bit of force, he got the younger’s leg off his own and scooted away, his headache drowning out the lust in his head.

Dejun whined and tried to pull Kun back down when he started sitting up, but he had to get out of here. This was a really terrible, terrible temptation, but giving in would be unforgivable. He didn’t even have consent.

 

Instead, Kun found himself under another freezing cold shower and fled to the kitchen, where he fell back asleep with his coffee only half-drunk on the kitchen table.

 

Kun woke later in the day, feeling a lot better, with a message on his phone from Yangyang. It was the video from last night and he paled in horror as he watched himself, intertangled with Dejun, telling him he’d teach him love.

He looked like a complete idiot, madly in love.

[from: Yangster; sent: 02:54 pm]

I won’t show it to anyone if you admit that Dejun looks just as stupid in love as you do.

Oh, and you have to confess to him!

;)))))))))))))))))

 

So, unfortunately, the video was posted to the group chat.

Kun really needed to think of another threat for his Turnee, to keep him in line.

 

And like that, October rolled around. It meant that there were fewer flowers to be sold and Christmas decorations slowly made their way into Flower Paradise. Kun was still majorly confused about the system of Christmas, mainly because he had spent most of his time in societies shaped by Buddhism or Daoism, rather than Christianity.

The decorations sure were pretty, though

“ _But what about Halloween_?” Dejun asked, eyes wide as he took in the red and green themed fir bouquets.

“ _Uh_ …” Kun prided himself in not getting too lost with all the new things humans came up with. But what exactly was Halloween again?

“ _It’s the best night to look for ghosts. I always go to the graveyard on Halloween_.” Dejun happily explained.

“ _The graveyard_?”

“ _Yes! If you want to catch a ghost, it’s best to do it there_!” he nodded earnestly.

“ _Ok. Should I come with you_?” Kun asked on a whim before realising visiting graveyards at night was not on his top 5 to-do list.

However, Dejun started beaming at the idea. Screw it! Kun would willingly agree to try and break through the North Korean border if it earned him this sort of smile.

 

Kun successfully dodged being set up for yet another date by Yangyang – really, he wasn’t that naïve!

Not that he didn’t want to go on a date with Dejun.

But he didn’t want Yangyang to claim the credit for it.

                    

 

Dejun sent him several articles on how to behave in a graveyard if you wanted to see ghosts, and Kun made sure to read them carefully, even if he was full of doubt ghosts even existed in the first place. He didn’t want to make a mistake and ruin it for Dejun.

“What are you reading?” Chenle leaned over to look into Kun’s phone, but he pushed the younger back in his place.

“I doubt you can even read it with how poor this looks.” Kun scolded and gestured at the questioning sheet he had drawn up. Half the fields remained empty and there were a lot of stroke mistakes in the others.

“It’s because these are so complicated!” Chenle whined.

“If you ignore the basic rules of Hanzi, of course, they are. What sort of radical is that supposed to be? I’ve never seen it before.”

“I don’t know!” Chenle tried to aegyo his way out of it, but Kun shook his head and pulled the sheet over, correcting the water character gone wrong.

 

So, after weeks of preparations and anticipation, Kun found himself by the (locked) door of the graveyard that reliable online resources deemed the most haunted in Seoul on the 31st.

“ _It’s so exciting_.” Dejun breathed. He had a candle with him and matches. Kun also had a candle, though they didn’t really need it, eyes perfectly capable of seeing in the dark. But for the aesthetic it was unavoidable.

_“Uh, how do we get inside?”_

“ _Oh, I usually climbed. I was here last year, too. Should be a lot easier this time_.” Dejun happily announced and stuffed his things in his pockets.

Right.

“ _Are you sure there’s no one guarding this_?” Kun asked, feeling a bit worried.

“ _No, no, there’s no one, this is a very simple graveyard, but there’s lots of unidentified people buried here, which is always great for souls seeking closure and thus returning_.”

_“Ah. I see.”_

Dejun grabbed the iron bars of the gate and gracefully pulled himself up, climbing over the obstacle with little trouble. Kun followed, making sure not to make any noise as he did so.

Dejun struck a match and lit his candle, the light from the flame casting harsh shadows on his face. Kun held his out, so he could do the same, and the scent of burnt match filled his nose for a moment. It suddenly felt like they might actually find a ghost here…

“ _Alright, let’s get started, we have half an hour until witching hour_.” Dejun buzzed in excitement and it was so adorable to watch. His hair reflected multi-coloured in the poor light and his eyes sparkled differently from how they usually did, with the light coming from below.

 

They made their way past the uniform tombstones, getting towards the middle. Kun checked the names and dates on a few of them as Dejun led the way, obviously knowing where to go. The thought that Dejun could have been buried in a place like this if Kun hadn’t met him, suddenly struck him and Kun felt a little sick at that. He reached forward and grabbed the coat the younger was wearing, having to reassure himself that Dejun was up and well. Dead, but undead.

“ _Here’s a good place_.” Dejun stopped and Kun almost ran into him. Good thing he didn’t, because he was still holding a candle. Burning coats were not a cute look.

“ _Aha_.” Kun looked around and nodded. They were in between graves, but apart from that, the place didn’t stick out as looking particularly haunted.

“ _Yes. I tried over there last year, but there was nothing there, so we’ll try here today_.” Dejun explained and twirled around himself once. The light of his candle flickered off from the wind the movement made and Dejun gasped and quickly fiddled for a new match, relighting the flame.

Kun decided to just wait until Dejun got bored. He could watch his face until then. It looked mysteriously pretty with the light, new details showing up he hadn’t paid as much attention to before, so he wouldn’t get bored.

They kept track of the time until it was finally midnight.

Dejun looked around curiously. He held the candle different directions. There were some cracking noises, but Kun figured that were some animals. Dejun startled every time and Kun slowly sneaked a hand on his arm to reassure him.

And then, suddenly, a voice, distorted, deep, sounding downright terrifying, echoed from behind some of the tombstones. Even Kun couldn’t keep himself from jerking in surprise.

_“I am the ghost of the two lovers. Killed unfairly, we seek revenge on all the people cowardly in love.”_

Kun froze in his place as Dejun squeaked and grabbed his outstretched hand and squeezed it tightly.

_“Did you hear that, Kun?”_

_“Uh, yes.”_

_“It’s a ghost!”_

“ _Is it_?” the voice was pretty… random, out of nowhere. And it sounded scary, just how you’d expected a ghost to sound. But were they actually getting sought out by a ghost? Wasn’t that a big coincidence?

The voice carried on “ _You have to confess to the one you’re in love with_.”

Dejun now pressed into Kun’s side, his breathing shallow and quick, while Kun got doubts. This… was a bit…

“ _Kiss, or you’ll be forever trapped in this graveyard_!” the voice was a little higher pitched now, but that wasn’t what threw Kun off.

“ _K-k-kiss_?” Dejun breathed into Kun’s ear.

“ _Wait, Dejun. Don’t you think it’s weird, how we’re on a Korean graveyard, but the ghosts speak Mandarin_?” Kun whispered so the sound wouldn’t travel. He didn’t look the direction the voices had come from. Two could play a game. Or three.

“ _Right… they must be immigrants! Immigrant ghosts_!” Dejun was a bit to close for comfort now, only centimetres parting them.

_“Right. Immigrants who just so happen to have a Taiwanese and Thai accent?”_

“ _Uh_ …” Dejun blinked twice.

“ _Come on, let’s find our so-called ghosts_.” Kun smiled and tugged on their interlaced hands. Dejun easily followed and Kun hurried, only to see two figures jump up and turn to flee. Kun couldn’t help dragging Dejun along as he sped up.

He caught one of them by the jacket, a squeak ripping over the graveyard.

“ _Ten_!” Kun growled and watched the other figure halt in his tracks “ _Yangyang, get back here_!” Kun called and his Turnee came back with his tail between his legs.

“ _Come on, it was a great plan, we totally had you fooled_.” Ten whined and wiggled, but Kun didn’t let go.

“ _I was fooled_ ,” Dejun admitted and Kun noticed they were still holding hands. He tried to let go, but Dejun didn’t. So, he just kept his hand where it was. It wasn’t like he wanted to get away from Dejun, on the contrary. His hand was nice, as always.

“ _Next time, how about you speak Korean_?” Kun sighed and let go of Ten, who straightened up.

“ _Well, Yangyang’s Korean still sucks_.” Ten pointed out.

“ _Hey! I’m trying. It’s hard_!”

“It is hard!” Dejun nodded eagerly and Kun felt himself grow much more understanding for his Turnee, since Dejun agreed… but his voice was still a bit shaky in fear.

“ _Still, sorry for scaring you_.” Yangyang sounded genuine.

“ _Yeah, me, too, but it was pretty funny_.” Ten agreed.

“ _How did you morph your voices_?” Kun felt curious, those terrible voices had almost fooled him, too.

“ _There’s an App for that. Lucas recommended it_.” Yangyang shrugged.

“ _Brilliant_.” Kun sighed. Leave it to Lucas to know a solution for any thinkable situation.

“ _So, do you actually want to stay here? We’ll be headed home_.” Ten asked, looking at them questioning.

“ _Uh… maybe not. I think I got scared enough for one night_.” Dejun’s grip on Kun’s hand tightened again and Kun sent him a reassuring smile.

 

Once they were home, in the light, everything wasn’t as scary anymore. Dejun still looked a bit out of it as he slowly let go of his hand when he suggested calling it a night.

So, Kun wasn’t very surprised when there was a knock on his door half an hour later, so soft he almost missed it. He looked up from the novel he was reading.

_“Come in.”_

The door opened a bit and Dejun’s head popped inside, hair fluffy from being freshly blow-dried.

“ _Did I wake you_?” he asked, biting his lip.

“ _No, come in_.” Kun waved his hand and Dejun waddled inside, closing the door behind himself. Then he just stood there, fiddling with the hem of his dinosaur pyjamas.

_“Uh… do you mind if I sleep here?”_

Kun felt his eyebrows rise. “ _No, I mean… sure_!” he gestured to the bed, that was empty. Dejun hurried over and grabbed the blanket, but laid down on the carpet, next to Kun.

“ _Thanks. I… kinda didn’t expect any ghosts to really be there. On the graveyard. And now it feels like they’re under my bed. I know, it’s silly_.”

Kun’s fingers twitched and in a moment of weakness, he reached over and threaded them through Dejun’s hair. Despite the dyeing, it was soft and silky, nice under his fingertips. Dejun started humming contently, so he kept moving his fingers as he put his novel aside and scooted over to lie down.

He switched the light off and adjusted into a comfortable position, expecting to fall asleep as it was already past 1 am, but Dejun’s voice cut through the silence, soft enough to not break the atmosphere of calmness.

_“Do you know why Ten and Yangyang said you were a coward in love?”_

Kun swallowed and kept his head looking straight up at the ceiling.

_“I guess I know where they’re coming from. But I can’t help it.”_

_“Ah. So you’re in love?”_

“ _Yeah_.” Kun didn’t even have to hesitate a second.

_“Why don’t you tell her?”_

Kun chuckled “ _I’m not telling HIM because_ …” Kun glanced to the side and Dejun was propped up on his elbow, staring at him intensely. Why wasn’t he telling him… Kun tried to find his own reasoning, but it seemed to have been deleted from his mind.

 _“For me, I think I’m not telling him because I’m a coward. No. I know that’s why_.” Dejun explained. Maybe Kun really a coward as well…

WAIT!

Dejun was in love with someone?

Who?

Kun felt the ugly tug of jealousy in his gut, thinking about who the person lucky enough to get Dejun’s affection was. And if he was deserving of it.

_“But I don’t want to be a coward anymore!”_

“ _That’s great_.” Kun forced himself to say. “ _That’s a huge step forward! I’m really proud of you_.” He turned his head to flash him a smile.

“ _So, what’s a good way to tell someone you like them_?” Dejun inquired.

“ _Well_ …” Who was Kun, giving his beloved advice on how to confess to someone else? Was he an idiot? Though… was there really anything he could say no to if Dejun asked it of him? “ _It really depends on the person. I don’t think you have to plan it very much, just do it as it feels natural. If they like you, they wouldn’t care about the setting, it’s about what happens from then on, anyway_.”

Dejun nodded, seemingly deep in thought. Then he suddenly took Kun’s hand where it was under his covers and pulled it towards him. Kun stared at it, then at Dejun in confusion.

“ _I’m in love with you_!” Dejun said, voice shaking a little.

“ _Yeah, that’s good_!” Kun encouraged.

“ _No. I’m not practising_!” Dejun whined and dropped his head. “ _I’m in love with you, Kun_.” He added, voice muffled a little.

Kun’s brain very, very slowly processed the meaning of those words, like it was a toddler slowing a 10,000 pieces puzzle.

“ _Me_?”

“ _Yeah. I’m sorry if that’s bad. But… I can’t help it. Everything you do makes me fall in love more_.”

“ _That’s not bad_!” Kun gasped, half sitting up to pull Dejun’s chin up, so he wasn’t staring into the ground anymore. “ _It’s not bad at all, why should it be bad? I’m… I’m the same. The person I love is you_!”

They stared at each other for a few seconds, obviously both trying to understand what they had just found out. Kun didn’t realise he had been leaning forward until he was suddenly so, so close to Dejun. He felt his breath ghost over his lips and halted, waiting for Dejun to close the distance.

And he did. Kun felt his lips on his, soft and warm. And he couldn’t help but smile a little. Dejun’s hand found its way onto his shoulder and Kun let him do what he wanted, only focussing on kissing him back, moving his lips slowly.

He could do this until the sun rose, now that he finally could!

However, Dejun eventually pulled back.

“ _Was that okay_?” he whispered.

_“Yeah.”_

“ _Ah. I was nervous to make a mistake_.” Dejun giggled and started playing with Kun’s shit’s hem.

“ _There’re no mistakes. Unless you slobber all over me, that could be considered a problem_.” Kun laughed softly.

“ _Okay. Can we do it again_?” Kun chuckled and nodded. “ _Can I… try more? I, uh, I read a lot on it_.”

“ _You read a lot on it?”_

 _“Yeah! Yuta helped me out a lot. Jungwoo, too. I mean, it’s a bit embarrassing… but they were really nice about it_.”

Kun was sort of thankful towards his coven mates for answering those questions and sparing him.

_“Yeah, sure, just do what you want and I follow?”_

Dejun scooted closer, their thighs now touching, and nodded. A moment later, his lips were back on Kun’s, his hand falling from his shoulder, on top of his own hand now, interlacing their fingers.

Kun easily opened for Dejun, already having expected it. He let him take the lead, feeling him carefully lick into his mouth. It was a bit slobby, a bit over-excited, but Kun loved it. He didn’t realise Dejun was pushing him back until he toppled over and hit the ground, Dejun following right after him, hitting his forehead on Kun’s chin.

“ _I’m so sorry_!” Dejun winced and Kun couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled from his chest. He wrapped his arms around the younger and kept him where he was, squeezing him tightly until Dejun started wiggling.

 

 

It wasn’t the first time Kun work up with Dejun wrapped around him like a baby sloth, but it was the first time that he knew it wouldn’t be the last. The first time that it was fine to run his fingers through Dejun’s faded hair and place small kisses on his cheeks and nose until Dejun woke up.

“ _Hey_ ,” Kun whispered and traced the slope of Dejun’s nose.

“ _Morning_.” Dejun yawned and snuggled his head into Kun’s shoulder tightly, angling his hips away.

“ _What are your plans for today_?”

“ _Hm_ …” Dejun sniffed on Kun’s neck. “ _Nothing. It’s Sunday. So I wanna say here all day. Though the ground is hard_.”

“ _Ah, sorry_.”

“ _Hm, it’s fine, if you like it, I’ll get used to it.”_

_“Or we could move to the bed?”_

_“No. Too much work_.”

So, they stayed on the ground. Dejun lazed on top of Kun and didn’t mind when Kun kept kissing every body part he could reach. The top of his head, his forehead, and eventually his hands, every knuckle getting extra attention.

 

It was well past noon when they finally unbundled from where they were lying and Kun hit the shower.

There was an idol show running on the TV when he came into the living room, Jungwoo, Yuta, Sicheng, Kunhang, and Johnny scattered over the several sofas and armchairs, chatting among each other and watching.

Kun wasn’t really interested, but he wanted to socialise a bit, so he took the free space next to Johnny.

Eventually, Ten returned from where he had been. He flashed Kun a brilliant smile, like he couldn’t harm a fly, and flopped down on top of Johnny. Kun just shook his head.

“What did I miss?” Ten asked his boyfriend, eyes trained on the screen.

“Uh…”

“You missed only a debut stage. It was a bit stiff, but they looked cute.” Yuta supplied.

Kun tried to get into the performances, but modern pop just wasn’t his cup of tea. There were girl groups looking pretty, boy groups looking handsome, a solo singer with a sad song. Ten had squeezed himself between Johnny and him and it was definitely a tight fit.

“Is that Black Pink?” Dejun suddenly came sliding into the room.

“Yeah, they’re having a comeback.” Jungwoo explained. Oh, was that the name of the group? Kun squinted at the TV.

“I know!” something blocked his sight of the screen and a moment later, Kun found himself with a lap-full of Dejun.

Not that he minded.

“Urgh, I wish YG wasn’t such a terribly company and mistreating them all the time.” he sighed and snuggled into Kun. To understand what Dejun liked, Kun paid good attention to the four girls flickering over the screen until the song ended and it switched back to the MCs announcing the winner of the week.

“True to that. I’m still not over 2NE1’s disbandment.” Jungwoo muttered. Kun looked over in confusion. What was a 2NE1? But instead of answers, his eyes got stuck on Ten and Yuta, who were gaping at him like fish out of water.

“What?”

“Is it… are you… did you…?” Ten gestured weakly.

Kun looked up at Dejun, not really knowing how to answer.

“Oh, Kun and I are dating now!” Dejun seemed much more above the situation, smiling brightly at the curious audience.

“Thank god fucking finally – I mean, that’s great to hear.” Johnny grinned and Ten hit his arm.

“You were surely no help whatsoever, Mr Suh!”

“You were being way too intrusive!”

“Oh yes? We were obviously just the right about of intrusive!” Ten whined and Kun sighed, as Yuta also joined how exactly it was thanks to him that Kun had finally figured out where he kept his balls and brain.

 

Waking up with Dejun softly breathing against him would definitely never get old, Kun decided on day two already. The bed was way too soft and squishy, though. He checked the alarm. It was 7 in the morning, meaning Dejun had to get up in half an hour to get ready for work. Having the later shift meant Kun could take it slow, so he’d gently wake his boyfriend.

Even thinking the word made him giggly and stupid.

Dejun stirred when he started placing kisses over his face, on his cheeks, nose, and forehead.

“ _Morning_.”

“ _Hm rnng_.”

“ _What was that_?” Kun chuckled and started peeling away from the other, but Dejun tightened his arms and kept him there.

“ _You have work_.”

“ _Don’t wanna_.”

“ _You have to be a smart scientist. Come on_.” Kun coaxed.

It took the 30 spare minutes to get Dejun out of bed and into the bathroom to wash up and get dressed. Kun decided to prepare coffee for them and anyone else who wanted.

Yuta was also an early riser and making smoothies. Yangyang was on the counter, dangling his legs and drinking something green-ish.

“Morning.”

“ _Ah, how’s the dream prince_?” Yangyang grinned. His teeth were stained green. Kun frowned and reached forward to rub the access off so he looked less like a sea monster.

“ _He’s in the bathroom_.”

“ _Ew, you’re way too cute and in love already_.” Yangyang mocked gagging.

“ _Who was so set on bringing us together_?” he shook his head and turned the coffee machine on.

 

Kun was busy wrapping mistletoes in colourful ribbons, when the door was flung open, letting in a gust of cold November air. Kun looked up to see a familiar figure enter.

“Mark!”

“Ah! Kun! I was hoping to catch you on your shift!” Mark grinned and hurried through the shop over to the work desk.

“How may I help you today?”

“I… uh. I need flowers! Yes. For someone special.” He smiled and blushed faintly. Kun couldn’t hold a grin.

“I see. Tell me the occasion and I’ll see what we have that might fit?”

“It’s her birthday. I mean, we’ve only been dating for a few weeks, but I’d like something really special for that.” Mark bounced on the balls of his feet. “If it goes well, I hope to be introducing her to my family and friends on Christmas. Maybe earlier.”

“Well, I’m wishing you all the best. The classic flowers of love are roses, of course. And since it’s winter we don’t really have any other seasonal ones. How about prink roses? Red might be still a little too strong. Or we could mix them. Let me show you what we have, you can choose.”

“Great! Thanks, Kun.” Mark eagerly followed Kun to the side, where the buckets with fresh cut flowers waited to be bound.

He decided on the two shades of pink they had in stock and Kun went to make them into a pretty bouquet.

“How are the others doing?” Kun asked, while he quickly placed one flowers against the other, adding green in between.

“Pretty well. Jeno’s working for a small computer firm already, despite being in his first year. But IT people are something else… I can only imagine his wage later… I should have chosen differently, too.” Mark laughed.

Kun added a pink ribbon to match the pedals and went to wrap them in paper.

“Extend my greetings, okay?”

“I will.”

 

Kun brought home a red winter rose two days later, as it made him think of Dejun.

The Succulents were still the main point of his room, but most vases were vacant since the shop carried fewer flowers and Kun thus brought less of them home for him.

Dejun was going to be home in a bit, so he took the freedom to place them in one of the empty pots. Kun’s eyes caught on the family picture that was on top of Dejun’s dresser. It was old, Dejun was tiny in it, maybe nine or ten, smiling brightly in a red, traditional Chinese outfit.

His parents were to both his sides, dressed in similar fashion, smiling just as brightly.

That was the only photo there was. When asked about them, Dejun would just shrug it off. He had sent them an e-mail to inform them about the recent development. But nothing else. Not even a call, much less a visit.

Kun traced his finger over the frame. How come they seemed to… not care? If he had a son, who was sick with cancer but wished to fulfil his dream of living a normal life before his early death, researching in the field he enjoyed, he’d only be letting go with a heavy heart. And most definitely visit at any given chance.

Especially when Dejun was having a hard time before, he, as a parent, would have wanted to be there for him. But even now, that he was genuinely happy, he’d want to be part of that.

He knew parents were a very, very difficult topic, especially for young vampires, who’d lose them sooner or later. There were many different examples in their coven. The type of overburdened single-parents with a child they didn’t wish for and didn’t know how to care for, the rich type that place sky-high expectations on their offspring and reacted badly when they didn’t fulfil those, the type to kick their gay child out. Those they had a lot of.

Some also had a normal family. But that meant you had to leave people dear to you behind once the time came.

Back when Kun had been young, it had been normal for him to leave and learn away from his family. He visited for a few years until his mother kept saying how handsome he was still looking. It had become too risky then.

Being in the army, it had been easy to fake his death. He had just let himself get killed, knowing he’d wake back up in 24 hours. It was harsh. Maybe his parents had cried. Maybe they had seen it coming. It wasn’t a rare fate for a soldier after all, no matter how high ranking.

Kun’s attention was ripped from tragic families to Dejun coming into the room. His hair was clipped back and he looked tired but still smiled, when he saw Kun.

“ _Hey_!”

“ _Welcome home_.” Kun greeted him and opened his arms, Dejun jumping into them in a hug, before placing a kiss on his lips.

“ _Oh, what’s that?_ ” he had spotted the new plant and let go of Kun in favour of inspecting it.

“ _That’s a Christmas Rose_.”

“ _It’s sparkling! Does it do that naturally_?” Dejun breathed in awe, fingers hovering over the leaves, never touching.

“ _No, we spray them, to make them prettier. You can wash it off_.”

“ _Oh, but it’s so beautiful! Looks like Fairy dust_.” Dejun looked up with a dreamy expression. “ _What’s its meaning_?”

Kun scratched his neck “ _Well, it depends, but to me, it’s like a red rose: love_.”

“ _Thank you, it’s stunning_.” Dejun stepped back into his personal space and pressed another kiss to his lips, a bit more demanding this time. Kun felt him lick over his lips and opened his mouth.

 

* * *

 

He threated a hand into Dejun’s hair when it became obvious he wasn’t going to break away any time soon.

He loved the little noises Dejun made whenever he managed to hit a more sensitive spot in his mouth, how uninhibited he was in kissing back. It felt better every time they did it.

However, Dejun seemed to have other ideas today, and Kun’s breath hitched when he felt the pressure of a hand to the front of his trousers. He was half-hard, it easily happened when they kissed for longer, his body naturally getting excited for more. Dejun was sure to feel that as he found the outline of his dick and wrapped his hand around it through the fabric of the clothing.

Kun didn’t stop him nor did he mirror the actions on Dejun, but rather waited what his intentions were. He focussed on the pressure and friction that made him quickly grow fully hard. Having this, having Dejun at the tip of his fingers, obviously eager to explore, made Kun want to pin him on the bed and go to town. At the same time, he wanted to take his time, take this as slow as possible, enjoy all the different ways you could use to make your partner feel good.

With someone as inexperienced as Dejun, the latter approach was much more suitable. Kun slowly let his hands travel from his hair, over his back, gripping his ass to pull him closer. It was slow, controlled movements, ones Dejun could anticipate and stop any time.

He kept closing the distance until Dejun’s hips were pressing against his, just a bit off, so Kun could feel Dejun’s hardness against his thigh.

Dejun moaned into the kiss, voice thick and speaking of how worked up he was. It was so hot, it sent a shiver down Kun’s spine.

He got impatient, it seemed, thrusting up against Kun’s leg, another moan bubbling from his mouth. Kun pulled back and broke the already past-messy kiss.

“ _What do you want?_ ” his voice was huskier than normal as he eyed Dejun’s face carefully.

“ _You_!” Dejun rubbed his hand over Kun’s dick with more pressure and Kun couldn’t keep his own voice down.

“O _kay. How?_ ” Talking wasn’t really on top of his priority list right now, but it was important to make clear what the other’s expectations were before getting too lost in the act and not making the other feel as good as they should.

“ _Uh_ …” Dejun seemed lost now, lips shiny and mouth partly open. Kun tried to commit the image to memory. That mouth would probably look very good somewhere else….

“ _How about just a good old handjob_?” Kun managed, despite his mind screaming something else at him. Not everyone was comfortable with blowing someone, not to mention there was more to it than just opening your mouth.

“ _Yeah_.” Dejun nodded, but he kept rubbing himself against Kun’s leg, obviously desperate for friction. Kun slid his hands lower, to the back of Dejun’s thighs, and pulled him up. Dejun squeaked and clung onto his shoulders as Kun stepped over to the bed, where he gently placed Dejun down, crawling on top of him.

Dejun looked up through his thick lashes and bit his lip and Kun softly groaned at the sight.

“ _God, look at you_ ,” he whispered and leaned down to reconnect their lips. He took his time to thoroughly lick against every sensitive spot in his mouth before he moved away from Dejun’s lips and placed kisses along his sharp jaw. He let his head drop backwards, giving Kun more access which he used to suck on the soft skin, leaving dark red marks on the pale expanse of his neck.

“ _Kun_.” Dejun’s voice was high and shaky. He pulled away and looked down on Dejun, who looked up with a desperate gaze.

“ _I think I changed my mind. Let me blow you_?” Kun purred, fingers ghosting over the hem of Dejun’s jeans.

“ _Yes. Yes, please, fuck._ ” Dejun whined and Kun decided to put an end to his teasing, hooking his fingers into the waistband and pulling down both his jeans and his underwear in one go. Dejun wiggled to help him and let the clothing fall from his legs.

Kun stared for a moment, taking in the soft thighs, that Dejun let fall open slightly, completely unashamed of his body. Rightfully so, he was beautiful to Kun. His dick was flushed and hard, curving against his stomach and he reached down to give him a few tugs, getting a feel for the size.

Dejun wasn’t big, his whole physique wasn’t after all, and he moaned prettily when Kun paid attention to him.

He looked at his face again. Dejun’s mouth was hanging open a little, eyes screwed shut. Kun placed a final kiss to his cheek before he scooted down and got comfortable between Dejun’s legs. He lowered himself and licked over the tip of his dick, tasting the pre-cum that had collected.

The loud moan he earned himself went right to his own cock, making him ache in anticipation. But Dejun was right in front of him and Kun wanted to show him how good he could make him feel.

So, he let his jaw go slack and circled his tongue around the crown, before closing his lips and starting to sink down, bobbing back up every now and then, before going even lower, until his nose hit Dejun’s stomach.

He tried to buck up, but Kun held him down and started moving on his own, raising up and down in a low, lazy rhythm.

“ _Fast, please, faster, faster_.” Dejun’s voice sounded wrecked already and Kun tried to get a look at him, but his head was still thrown back, leaving his face hidden from where he was low on his body. Kun decided not to drag it out, but picked up the pace, pressing his tongue flat against the shaft. Dejun’s small moans got higher quickly, Kun knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, but it was fine.

He was feeling good and that was what Kun wanted.

So, when he felt him twitch and try to force out Kun’s name, he dropped down and moaned around him to send the vibrations into Dejun’s body, instead of pulling away.

“ _Ah_ ,” Dejun whined and his hips twitched weakly under Kun’s hands as he came. Kun made sure to swallow and avoid making a mess until Dejun started jerking in oversensitivity and he pulled away.

Kun crawled back up, so he could hover over his face.

Dejun’s expression was pure bliss, eyes half-lidded, lips swollen and shiny.

“ _Good_?” Kun smirked and ran a hand through Dejun’s messy hair.

“ _Yeah_.” He breathed and Kun let him catch his breath, tracing the harsh lines of his face with a finger. It didn’t take very long for Dejun to come off his high, and stare at him with his intense dark eyes, that made Kun fall deeper in love every time.

“ _What about you_?”

Kun looked down himself, his trousers tenting over his crotch. If he was being honest, he was desperate for touch. Dejun seemed to read his mind because he reached forward and Kun suddenly found himself on his back, the other now over him.

He pressed his hand down on Kun’s dick again, applying just enough pressure to feel amazing. This was the good part about being with a guy – no matter how little experience they had with others, they already knew their own body and there were considerable big common grounds on how male anatomy worked.

But he didn’t stay there, instead, he started unfastening his trousers and Kun hurried to help him and make this quicker, easily kicking away his clothing.

“ _Ah, uh, just say if it’s not good_?” Dejun muttered, staring down at Kun’s now exposed length.

“ _Yeah, go ahead_.”

“ _Okay_.” Dejun nodded, but his movements were shier this time, not as bold as before. Kun made sure to make a noise of pleasure much louder than he’d normally have made, to reassure he was doing great when he carefully wrapped his fingers around the base, dragging them up over the soft skin, to the tip where dragged them through the pre-cum.

Kun felt himself twitch as his most sensitive part was caressed and Dejun seemed to gain confidence from that, his next stroke downwards already with more intent.

It took him a bit to find a rhythm, he obviously struggled with the unfamiliar angle, so every time Kun felt himself get into it, pressure starting to build, he got ripped out of it because Dejun couldn’t hold the pacing and changed.

But it was fine, he didn’t let his frustration over being denied get to him, but encouraged him to try different ways until Dejun finally had it figured out and was able to keep the rhythm of up and down his dick. The way he let his fingers close around his head made Kun’s breath hitch every time and he finally felt his orgasm build in his gut.

He watched Dejun’s face, brows furrowed in concentration, still looking strikingly handsome.

“ _A bit faster_.” He pressed out and Dejun’s tongue started poking from his mouth as he hurried his movements. Kun couldn’t hold the groan when he finally got pushed over the edge, his body spasming for a moment, reaching his high.

“ _Was that good?_ ” Dejun worriedly asked as Kun blinked his eyes, coming down.

“ _Yeah, pretty good_.”

“ _I’ll try harder next time,_ ” Dejun promised and reached into his nightstand for tissues he used to clean his fingers, handing the rest to Kun.

 _“I’m already looking forward to that, but this was very nice, don’t worry_.” Kun smiled at him and Dejun huffed.

“ _You’re too good a boyfriend_.”

“ _Aw, come here_.” Kun grinned and pulled Dejun on top of him, kissing his cheeks obnoxiously.

 

Yangyang took one look at the hickeys that were a bit too high on Dejun’s neck to cover up and proceeded to pretend to throw up for the next two hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick disclaimer: I’m 1000% sure Dejun has amazing parents. His father does Drag and there’s a tv appearance with him and his two sons. I’m sure they’d be supportive, were he to come out to them as LGBTQ+, but this is the world of fiction, where they’re not that great. He also doesn’t have a brother. I’m sorry >.<
> 
> Did you watch the All For One Episode? OMG Hendery and Xiaojun clinging to each other like their life depended on it was so adorable. And Kun watching the trainees with that… look™ - very hot. Also, when that first Regular stage is finally released I will definitely die – but don’t worry, I think all chapters of this will have been released before then.
> 
>  
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s smut in this chapter, if you don’t want to read that, please skip the part between the lines.

Needless to say, Kun’s mood was at an all-time high. He didn’t only get the cutest boyfriend in the world, but he also got to kiss him whenever he wanted and make him come undone under his hands or mouth at night.

So, when he walked into the living room on Saturday around noon, freshly showered, he felt his heart sink for the first time in weeks, when he found Donghyuck and Dongyoung on the sofa, the younger sobbing his heart out into the vampire’s sweater.

Dongyoung, for all his endless patience with the “kids”, looked pretty panicked and sent Kun a look that screamed “Help me.”

Kun hurried to the kitchen and stole one of the chocolate milks from the fridge, returning with a straw to the sofa, where Donghyuck was still wailing.

“Hey.” Kun softly said and crouched down in front of the two.

Donghyuck raised his head, his face was swollen and eyes watery and red. “Hey.” His voice was trembling, but his eyes landed on the chocolate milk.

“You seem to need a little pick me up?” he waved the carton in his hand.

Donghyuck sniffed and separated from Dongyoung’s drenched clothing to nod.

Kun poked the straw through the hole and passed it to the human, who started sipping it carefully.

Dongyoung tried to pull the wet fabric from himself without alerting Donghyuck to what he was doing and it was pretty funny to watch. But it didn’t mask the worry Kun felt over the human. Donghyuck was tough and feisty. He had been the one to organise Dongyoung’s escape, he had set up a contra-movement in the Hunter Union, because he saw vampires weren’t the monsters they made them up to be, and he had quit his training there because he thought their doings were wrong, all that despite losing his parents to a rogue vampire when he was only four.

“Thanks, Kun.” Donghyuck muttered, after he had chugged the whole pack of chocomilk.

“Anytime.” He took the empty carton from his hands and placed it on the living room table, but it seemed like the soothing had only been temporary, new tears welling up in Donghyuck’s eyes already.

“At least you care about me.” He pulled a very used tissue from his sleeve and loudly blew his nose. Kun’s eyes fitted to Dongyoung, who still looked helpless. “Can you believe Mark… got himself a girlfriend? And if that weren’t bad enough already, he didn’t tell me!” Donghyuck hick-upped and the tears pilled over.

Oh. Oh no. The flowers…

“I hate him! How could he do this to me? I thought I was his best friend!” Donghyuck buried his face back in Dongyoung’s clothes, who awkwardly rubbed his back. “And who’s that girl even? Mina? What kind of stupid name is that? I’m obviously much cuter and funnier.”

Kun began to feel like this wasn’t just the disappointment from Mark keeping his relationship a secret, which Kun didn’t think had been his intention, but rather wanting to wait if it was working out. This was someone who had just gotten his heart broken for the first time.

“There, there, I’m sure he didn’t mean it.” Dongyoung tried, but Donghyuck only sobbed louder.

No words could heal a broken heart, in Kun’s experience. You could only be there for the person, provide food and an open ear for rants.

So, Kun settled on the sofa and let Dongyoung transfer the crying mess that was Donghyuck onto his shoulder, allowing the other to flee the scene.

 

Luckily, humans could only cry so long, until the tears inevitably stopped and Donghyuck slowly calmed down.

“Sorry.” He muttered, as he rubbed on the wet patch on Kun’s hoodie.

“Don’t worry. It happens to all of us.”

“I bet no one would dump someone like you.” Donghyuck sniffled and gave up on trying to dry his tears off Kun’s clothing. A fight he was doomed to lose.

“That’s not true. I had my fair share of heart break.”

“I don’t even know why I’m so upset. Mark’s as straight as a ruler, I’ve know for ages that my crush was hopeless. But…” Donghyuck sniffed.

“It still hurts.” Kun ended for him.

“Yeah. I don’t know, I still thought some miracle would happen and… you know, he’d return my feelings. Guess not. I mean, it’s fine. I’ll get over it. But I’m also bitter that he didn’t immediately tell me. I would have told him, if I had a hot date or something. Not that I have them. But if I did.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to keep things from you.”

“I know, he probably was all insecure and shit and wanted to not mess up and read on wiki how what to give to a girl you like…” Donghyuck’s voice broke and Kun reached into his pocket for a fresh tissue.

“Thanks.” Donghyuck blew his nose. “I feel really stupid, so thanks for still listening. Can I complain some more?”

“Please, go ahead!”

 

Kun hummed under his breath, as he sprayed the moss with some water. It was almost closing time and he was going to go skating with Dejun. It had been a month since that Halloween night on the graveyard, making it over half a year since he had first met him, but he still felt like he was walking on clouds from how happy in love he was.

Yangyang had made a trip to Daejeon last week, looking like it was already starting to itch under his skin to move. Kun worried a little. It was quite soon to already feel wanderlust. Normally staying for a year or two was perfectly normal. He hoped Yangyang didn’t regret his hasty decision to cross the ocean into the trap that was South Korea. He certainly hoped Yangyang didn’t plan to try getting back.

There was so much that could happen, the trip was extremely risky. Kun didn’t want to see Yangyang on some cleared-list from the Union, because they caught him on the port and slammed a stake right through his heart. The fact that he had even made it here was already impressive. Going back would really be testing his luck.

Not to mention Kun didn’t really want to let him go. He loved having his coven around himself.

The doorbell tingled and Kun looked up to see Dejun come inside. He was wrapped up in the soft blue scarf and hat Kun had gifted him, only his eyes peeking past.

“Hey!” Kun greeted, watching him quickly shut the door and shake himself.

“Hi! It’s so cold!” Dejun whined and started puling his gloves off, flexing his fingers. “I hate the cold! Guangzhou never gets this freezing!”

“Aw, poor baby.” Kun cooed and smacked a kiss to his cheek after pulling the scarf down.

He finished up and locked the shop.

“You know ice is also cold?” Kun inquired. It had been Dejun who had suggested the skating, but he felt like teasing a little.

“I know. But I’ll just cling to you to keep warm.” He announced and proceeded to do so, as they walked down the busy streets of Gangnam in the evening.

“Alright, I think I’m fine with that.” Kun chuckled and tightened his arm in Dejun’s.

 

Kun had been skating before. He wouldn’t call himself a pro, but he could go forwards and backwards at reasonable speed.

Dejun also seemed to have been skating before, though he was a bit wobblier overall, he made up for stability in enthusiasm, like always. So, Kun let himself get pulled over the ice in turns and twists, passing children with their parents and couples obviously less skilled on the slippery ice.

Kun’s gloves were soft pink – a gift from Dejun – and kept him nice and warm, but also looked pretty in contrast with the matching pastel blue of his boyfriend’s. Kun had never known he’d have a thing for couple items, but it was so nice to have a constant reminder of the other one. Phone cases, bracelets, clothing, everything was already starting to pile up.

They kept going, round after round never getting boring, as Kun descended back into tunnel-vision in which he only saw Dejun.

“I want to try doing a pirouette!” The younger children and their parents were starting to leave, so the ice was less crowded now.

“Be careful.” Kun reminded but let go of his hand to watch.

It seemed like Dejun had this planned and read up on how to do a spin such as this, because he pushed himself to gain some speed, before crossing his blades and twisting around himself. A small squeal of laughter came from him and Kun internally melted. Yet again. The fun was short lived, however, as he failed to keep the speed up high enough.

Dejun came back over, waving his arms a little.

“That was great!” Kun cheered.

“Thank you.” Dejun beamed and took his hand again “Maybe I should try a career in skating in the future?”

“Nothing where photos of your face will be saved for the public to see forever.”

“Ah, right. As a hobby, then. Or with you.” Dejun squeezed his hand tighter and Kun squeezed back.

 

After two hours, his legs started to feel like lead and he suggested getting hot chocolate. Dejun wanted to try a few more pirouettes, so Kun left alone, getting the drinks and picking Dejun back up after, so they could leave together.

He returned his skates and headed for the twosome place. Dejun liked cinnamon on hot drinks, so Kun added that for his.

When he came back to the rink, Dejun was talking to two girls, who had blushed faces and were giggling behind their hands. Kun slowed down, not wanting to interrupt. They were complimenting him on his face. Understandable, really. Kun felt himself smile.

Dejun seemed slightly overwhelmed though, giggling even more than the girls and Kun cooed to himself.

“Kun!” Dejun noticed him and raised his arm to wave. He picked the pace back up and smiled at the girls. “This is my boyfriend!” Dejun exclaimed.

“No way!”

“You’re both too handsome!”

“Visual overkill!” the girls whined adorably and Kun laughed at that.

Kun helped Dejun off the ice and they settled on one of the benches to drink the chocolate before it got cold.

Dejun’s hands were shaking, when he reached out to accept his cup and Kun grabbed his hands to check the temperature, before realising they were both wearing gloves.

“Are you cold? Take off your gloves, so you can warm them up on the chocolate.”

“I’m not. I uh, I got so nervous, I said you were my boyfriend without even thinking about it. I never told anyone outside the coven. But it was so nice, and they were so nice!”

Dejun sniffled and reached for the cup again.

“Many people are nice about it. And when people aren’t, just try and think of those who are.” Kun encouraged and rubbed Dejun’s arm.

“Yeah! I’ll do that. Thanks for adding cinnamon. It’s so Christmas-ey.”

 

Despite the festive mood, Chenle and Jisung still had to slave away for school, much to their own annoyance.

“But why is it suddenly times four?” Jisung and Dongyoung were solving polynomial equations, while Chenle tried to translate. If Kun was behind honest, he felt pretty bad for Chenle. His first language was Mandarin, meaning forming sentences in Korean was still a bit of a struggle as it was. But because he was in the normal Korean school system, he hadn’t learnt Hanzi at the speed a Chinese child would, so his writing and reading skills lacked behind, making written translations essentially harder for him than for Korean students.

Still, he was trying hard and Kun was very proud of his mentee.

Kun was engrossed in a news article on this girl group Dejun liked, while Chenle was working, but he perked up, when the younger got up.

“Where are you going?”

“I need something to drink! Do you think there’s still some of Yuta’s smoothies left? I’d love to have one of those…”

There probably was more than one in the fridge. Between packs and packs and packs of blood.

“Ah, I’ll get one for you, just carry on.” Kun was up in a flash, hurrying past Chenle into the kitchen.

“Okay, thanks Kun-Ma.”

“I told you not to call me Ma.” Kun sighed and made sure Chenle was really not following him. Crisis averted.

 

“Kun, don’t you work at a flower shop?” Meiqi asked. The regulars’ table was a few bottles of soju in, but it seemed like Kun wouldn’t have to carry anyone home today.

“Yeah.”

“Do you have mistletoes? I really want one, so I finally have an excuse to kiss Xuanyi!”

“Meng Meiqi! You’re impossible.” Xuanyi threw the cap of one of the bottles against her coven-mate’s forehead.

“Is a mistletoe an excuse to kiss someone?” Sicheng asked in confusion “How so?”

“Oh, it’s a Western tradition, I think. But it’s super cute!” Dejun explained “If you and someone else step under a mistletoe, you have to kiss, or else you get bad luck!”

“But… it’s just a plant?” Sicheng asked in confusion.

“Europeans have believed mistletoe to have magical properties for quite some time. Its probably because it’s evergreen and parasitic, meaning it grows on other trees. It’s got good survival traits, so that likes to fertility. There’s a Nordic story behind it, but more popular is the belief that men came up with it to make women kiss them.” Kun shrugged.

“Straight men.” Sicheng sighed and took another shot of soju.

“I still think it’s cute.” Dejun pouted and nuzzled against Kun.

“I don’t care if it was creepy, straight, white men who came up with that shit. What I want is the same as them: a girl to kiss me.” Meiqi sighed deeply.

“I miss Yuta…” Sicheng whined into the table and Kun decided he had had enough to drink for the evening.

 

* * *

 

Kun didn’t have to carry anyone, but he did have to drag. After successfully dropping all his coven mates back at their respective rooms, Kun slipped into Dejun’s, where his boyfriend was already freshly showered in bed. Normally, he’d be in one of his cute pyjamas, but when Kun pulled up the blanket to join him, he almost fell right off the bed, when he saw what Dejun was wearing.

Or not wearing.

“What the.” Kun whispered, eyes trained on the black lace. It wasn’t cut for a woman, and actually quite modest, not showing more than briefs would. But the lace was soft and pretty against Dejun’s pale skin.

“Do you like it?” Dejun bit his lip, looking both insecure and like a whole snack.

“It makes me want to eat you whole.” Kun expressed in full honesty.

“Okay.” Dejun giggled and rolled onto his back, spreading his legs a bit, the fabric shifting against his skin.

Kun pulld the blanket away in one move and climbed on top of his boyfriend.

Dejun was never one to passively wait for things to happen, even less so when he was inviting Kun like this. So Kun didn’t even get the chance to properly inspect how the black fabric clung to every dip and bulge before Dejun was already pulling off his shirt.

Kun willingly raised his arms so the clothing could go, never to be seen again. He leaned down and finally connected their lips in an open-mouthed kiss, but Dejun was even more impatient than usually today, so he didn’t get the time to properly explore and tease all the sensitive spots he wanted to.

Dejun was already stripping him of his pants and Kun couldn’t hold a laughter.

“Are you in a hurry?”

“No.” Dejun pouted but still pulled his clothing off him. Kun just let him do as he pleased and followed when he got rolled to his back, finding himself under the other now.

It left him with a great view of those black lace briefs… Dejun was already hard, meaning he had been working himself up. It was incredibly hot. Kun licked his lips and looked up.

“Is there a special occasion then?”

“Yes. I – uh…” Dejun looked a bit bashful, but he always explained what he wanted, when they were in bed. “Can we… have actual sex? All the way?”

His fingers were ghosting over Kun’s chest, speaking of his nervousness. Kun grabbed one and pulled Dejun down to kiss him, properly. He loved kissing his boyfriend. And he loved how open and curious he was. He didn’t want to push anything, but he also didn’t want to leave Dejun in the rain, so he always let him suggest new things and then rolled with it, only stepping in when he felt like it’d be better to.

It was important to gain experience from trial, but some mistakes just should be avoided. Like teeth on his dick.

“Is that a yes?” Dejun asked, slightly out of breath.

“Yes.” Kun chuckled and finally let his fingers travel down, feeling the soft lace under them. He rubbed over Dejun’s dick with too little pressure to really relief him, making him buck up a bit. Kun smirked up at him and let his hands settle on his thighs, soft and milky where he was straddling him.

“Do you have any wishes?” he hooked his thumbs under the black fabric, watching the pattern of the threats of the lace over his fingers.

“I’m not so sure? Is it very different from fingering?”

They had done that before, really, it was a waste not to, when it could feel so amazing.

“Ah, it’s… different.” Kun glanced down between them. “Do you want to bottom?”

“Shouldn’t I?”

“No, why? There’s no assigned roles to fulfil. I’d suggest you top, in the future, we can switch?”

That seemed to relief Dejun immensely and Kun felt a bit bad for whatever had Dejun led to the decision he’d definitely be on the receiving end.

“Okay. That sounds good! What do I do?” Dejun eagerly asked. He had proven himself very capable in finding Kun’s best spots, so Kun felt himself harden more at the prospect of getting more of that.

“Get the lube. Do you have condoms?”

“No.” Dejun looked dejected.

Kun had condoms, but that’d mean leaving and he really didn’t want to.

“Okay, whatever.”

Dejun leaned over to the night stand and Kun took that as a chance to tease some more, letting his fingers trail over the patterns of the underwear, right over his cock, that twitched.

“Kun.” Dejun whined and quickly sat back down, the bottle in hand, pushing him away.

“What? It’s pretty! Didn’t you wear it because of that?”

“Yes, but…” Dejun huffed.

“Okay, I’ll stop.” Kun assured him with a smile “But only because you need to move out of reach anyway.”

Dejun seemed to have come to the same conclusion and got off where he was sitting on his waist and found a new place between Kun’s legs.

His dick was almost at full hardness, but he knew that it’d get there soon enough, when Dejun started.

“I’ll stretch you, right? I read about that.”

“Oho, did you now? Okay, show me what you’ve got.” Kun challenged. The cap of the lube snapped open and the scent of strawberry made Kun’s nose twitch. If there was one thing that he hated, it was scented lube. But Dejun seemed to find it wonderful, so… of course Kun found it wonderful now, too.

Dejun wrapped a slick hand around his dick and started stroking him carefully, teasing the tip, watching him grow harder. Thankfully, Dejun was not only too impatient to get teased, but also too impatient to tease others, so Kun didn’t have to wait for long until he felt a wet finger circle his rim. He relaxed his muscles and Dejun pushed inside with ease.

He started carefully thrusting it a bit, wiggling to test Kun’s reactions. He pressed a bit too hard right into his prostate the moment he found it and Kun’s whole body jerked in overstimulation, a groan ripping from his lips.

“Ah, sorry.”

“s fine.”

Dejun was more careful after and could quickly add a second finger. Knowing where he had to be careful, he quickly picked up a rhythm and angle at which he could massage against sensitive parts inside Kun without making him see stars from over-intensity.

The hand on his dick slowed down, as Dejun paid more attention to his hole and Kun didn’t really mind. The stretch was comfortable by now, pleasant really, and he could probably work himself up to an orgasm, if given enough time.

“It’s fine, you can stretch more.” Kun instructed, because Dejun seemed to have forgotten the end-goal here.

With a nod, Dejun started to carefully scissor his fingers, trying to stretch him wider. Kun felt a faint ache buzz on his spine now, but he worked against it, focussing on the rubbing over the sensitive nerves instead.

The truth was, Kun didn’t bottom a lot and he definitely didn’t share some coven members’ thirst for big dicks. Dejun wasn’t too big, though, and it was Dejun, so Kun still felt excited to do it. But that didn’t change the fact that he was a bit rusty… or never had been very skilled in the first place.

“Uh… I read you should do three fingers, but I don’t think I was gifted with that much girth?” Dejun asked and Kun had to agree.

“Yeah, we’re probably good.” Not to mention three fingers up to the knuckles always burnt like a bitch and pain also wasn’t a kink Kun shared.

Dejun pulled his fingers out so quickly, Kun couldn’t keep himself from clenching down on nothing, gasping softly. Dejun rose himself to his knees and peeled off the black lace, wet with precum at this point, to reveal his dick, flushed and dark against his stomach.

Kun bit his lip at the sight, but a small moan still escaped them.

The scent of Strawberry got heavy in the room again, as Dejun coated himself in the lube and Kun felt anticipation buzz under his skin.

“Okay?”

“Hm… no, I want a kiss first.” Kun tapped his lips and Dejun grumbled, visibly tense, which was exactly why Kun wanted the distraction. And because kissing him was great.

Kun cupped his jaw, as he worked their lips against each other, their tongues meeting. It was hurried, but Dejun still seemed to relax, at least a little, as Kun caressed his cheek.

When he pulled away, he looked so eager, it was bordering on desperate and Kun really couldn’t make him suffer more.

“Okay, I’m ready when you are.”

“I’m ready!” Dejun announced with a bright smile and leaned back onto his heels. Kun pulled a pillow from the side and propped his hips up and finally, he felt the tip of Dejun’s dick nudge against his entrance.

Dejun held onto his hips and Kun eyed his face carefully, taking in how his dark brows furrowed, his lashes casting shadows over his cheeks. He felt the tip breach him, the stretch different than the fingers, but not too uncomfortable.

And then Dejun pushed and buried himself in one swift move. Kun felt the air being pushed from his lungs, as he gasped to try and hold in a whine.

“Ohmygod, slow, slow.” He wheezed and Dejun immediately froze. The friction felt good, but the burn was sharp and slightly overwhelming.

“I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay. Just… hold it a moment.” Kun hooked his leg around Dejun, just to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Can I touch you?” Dejun asked softly and Kun wanted to cry and kiss him, because that was incredibly thoughtful, despite Dejun probably being overwhelmed himself. But he was in a position terrible for kissing right now, so he only nodded. He felt him wrap a hand around his dick and slowly, carefully tugged, sending just enough pleasure through him to mask the pain.

“Try and move a little.” Kun instructed, wanting to see how to make this work the fastest, so Dejun wasn’t getting uncomfortable. His body must be screaming at him to thrust in the slick warmth, so the fact he was doing so well was already incredible.

Dejun started with shallow thrusts, nice, but not really breath-taking, allowing him to get used to the sensation. Kun started to meet his moves and pushed his hand off his dick, because he was getting much too sloppy and distracted, and instead did it himself.

No further instructions were needed, as the thrusts got bigger, stronger. Dejun’s fingers dug into Kun’s hips, small moans bubbling from his chest with every push back inside.

Kun felt him twitch inside. So, he clenched down a little, just enough to send shivers down Dejun’s spine, pushing him closer and closer to the edge of his orgasm.

“Kun, Kun, fuck, I think I’ll come.” Dejun whined, movements getting faster, losing their rhythm.

“Okay. Come for me.” Kun purred and picked up the pace at which he was stroking his dick, too.

Dejun still beat him to it, a small cry of “Kun.” Falling from his mouth, before his hips stuttered and Kun felt the warmth of cum inside him.

He let Dejun ride his high out, his own orgasm not too far away with how he worked his hand up and down his length. Dejun pulled out, dick softening between his legs, but he pushed his fingers back inside.

Now, two fingers pressing into that sweet spot, that had been overwhelming before, but felt perfect now, was a lot more helpful for Kun and he felt his hand lose finesse as he desperately clenched down on Dejun.

“Ah, fuck.” Kun gasped, when Dejun leaned down to kiss the inside of his thigh. The stimulation was enough to finally let him come, thighs trembling as he worked himself through it.

It took him a bit to come down from the high, but when he did, Dejun was still between his legs, staring at his ass.

“Wow, this is such a mess.” He whispered, his fingers coming up, covered in a mixture of god knew what.

“Yeah, that’s what the condom would have been for.” Kun explained. Showering sounded like way too much work right now, but it was inevitable, or it’d only get worse.

“Shower?” Dejun suggested, like he had read his mind.

“Yeah.” Kun nodded and sat up slowly, his back already aching.

“Was… was that okay?” Dejun asked, before Kun could even think about getting off the bed.

“It was good. How about you?”

“Really, really, really good.” Dejun smiled in a bliss and Kun chuckled and leaned in to peck him on the lips.

 

* * *

 

Kun was shaken awake the next morning.

“Kun! A fairy! A real fairy!”

Kun groaned and blinked his eyes open. His body felt like he had been hit by a truck. Definitely mad respect to all the size queens and their lower halves that apparently made from rubber.

He stared at Dejun, who was looking at the window still, where a small bunch of roses were. Kun turned to eye them, but there was no fairy.

“Now they’re gone…” Dejun whispered, looking dejected. “They didn’t even eat the honey? Maybe I scared them off!”

“Hm.” Kun buried his face back in his pillow. He had recently developed an appreciation for beds and mattresses, finding them rather nice and soft. So five more minutes wouldn’t hurt…

However, the peace of the morning was interrupted by the door being thrown open.

“Kun! I may or may not have tried to make coffee…”

Kun was suddenly very awake, ripping his head up from his comfortable pillow to fix Lucas in a glare. The tall vampire swallowed visibly.

“Uh… maybe… it seems like there’s… a problem?”

“For fuck’s sake, I had it set on Italian for a reason!”

“Sorry?”

Kun threw the blanket off and grumbled under his breath, as he fished for his slippers. He couldn’t hold a small wince, when he straightened up and his back muscles locked up for a moment, however he was fuelled by rage over the morning being ruined, so he pushed past that and marched past Lucas towards his holy coffee machine.

Meanwhile Dejun very carefully took the glitter off the rose pedals to inspect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope no one will stake me for breaking up Markhyuck before it even happened. Listen, I love Markhyuck and there’s no doubt this is the biggest ship on this site, and possibly in the fandom, and they’re adorable together – but I may or may not have some ideas for a continuation focussing on the Dreamies. I don’t want to promise too much, because I don’t know if I’ll actually end up writing it and when. But to give myself a base to start from, I’m setting it up in this fic.
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


	11. Chapter 11

Thankfully, Kun’s coffee machine had survived Lucas’ wish for coffee and Kun was pretty sure that the younger wouldn’t try again after the scolding he had given him.

The whole situation was watched by the judging trio, consisting of Ten, Yuta, and Jungwoo, all sipping something through straws, while they watched with hawk eyes. Kun figured it was sort of a funny image, seeing how Lucas towered over him, but matched the sad puppy look far better than anyone could wish to.

“And you better keep your fingers off it, too, I’m going back to bed and try to save the morning!” Kun fixed each of the three in a stern glance.

“Will do, lover boy.” Ten grinned and Jungwoo threw him a kiss. Kun sighed and stalked back to his part of the flat to give his back some more time to heal.

Dejun was on his desk, inspecting a tissue.

“What are you doing?” Kun asked, but couldn’t be bothered to stay up for another moment. 

“I’m sure this is pixie dust! But it’s disappearing! That must be why I’ve never seen it before. But I definitely saw a fairy.” Dejun chirped excitedly.

Kun honestly wasn’t opposed to the idea of fairies existing anymore. What did he know? If there were vampires and werewolves, why not also have fairies and mermaids?

“Maybe you’ll see it again.”

“I hope so.”

 

Kun ended up selling Meiqi a mistletoe, the other vampire giggling hysterically over it. 

However, he was busy making one of the generic rose bouquets for a businessman that wanted to give his wife something nice for always coming home late after work, when Dejun came. Kun checked the clock on the work bench, confirming that his boyfriend was early. 

Dejun seemed content with smelling on all the flowers around while he waited, though, so Kun kept working, rung the man up and send him off, before letting himself focus on Dejun.

“Hey.” Kun called and Dejun came over to the desk. Kun immediately sensed there was something off. Dejun was always bubbly and bouncy. But he was quiet and subdued today.

“Hi.” Dejun took his hand immediately, like he was looking for reassurance.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, I really can’t hide anything from you.” Dejun chuckled softly.

“You don’t have to tell me, if you don’t want to.”

“I… want to, though.”

“Okay. Please do.”

“My parents want to… see me.” Dejun clamped down on his hand.

Kun’s suspicions were confirmed, that his parents were a problematic topic for Dejun. It had been sort of obvious before even, but now there was no questions left.

“They have a holiday for Christmas and said they wanted to… see my diploma and… stuff. I don’t know.” Dejun bit his lip “I shouldn’t even be alive anymore, but all they want to see is my degree and my work, because it’s reputable.”

Kun’s heart sunk at the genuine sadness in Dejun’s words. He rubbed over the back of his hand to show his support. 

“Anyway. Because they won’t be nice, I won’t be nice either. I want to introduce you to them. Only if you want, they might be… mean about it. They always have been. So I know that I could really ruin the day for them, if I introduced my boyfriend.”

“Of course, I’ll be there with you, if you’re sure about this?”

“I’m sure. 1000%. I’ve learnt a lot about people like them recently and I really don’t want them to keep making my life unhappy.”

Kun smiled “That’s the spirit. When and where are we meeting?”

 

A few days later, Kun returned to his room, and almost got a heart attack, when he switched on the light and saw Yangyang laze on his bed. Well, he couldn’t get a heart attack anymore. But that was besides the point. 

“You scared me to a second death, Yangyang, what are you doing here?” Kun gasped clutching his chest.

“Oh. Hi. Fancy seeing you here.” Yangyang waved weakly. 

Kun quickly closed the door and strode over to sit on the bed.

“What has you so down?”

“Hm… nothing.” Yangyang buried his face in the blanket. Kun rolled his eyes and ruffled his hair.

“Don’t lie to me, especially not this badly. Who’s supposed to believe that?”

“I don’t know.” Yangyang’s voice was muffled. 

“Now sit up and speak properly, young man!”

“I’m not even that young! I’m older than most of this coven, yet you treat me like a child.”

“You behave like one and you were turned younger than them.”

The age at which you were turned did influence how you behaved all your eternal life, a certain mentality was impossible to outgrow. But Kun admittedly did treat Yangyang like he was a kid forever, even when he wasn’t. He had been 19 when Kun had turned him, almost 20, so he was an adult by all means.

“Fine.” Yangyang sat up, his hair sticking up. “Promise me you won’t do the disappointed mom thing?”

“Is there a reason to be a disappointed mom?”

“May…be?”

“Yangyang, what did you do?”

“Okay, so, I know I really fucked up, but I don’t know what to do.”

“Hm… I’m listening.” 

“Uh so… you know Kunhang?”

Kun blinked at Yangyang, who was still not looking at him.

“You mean Wong Kunhang, member of this coven?” Kun asked slowly, feeling very, very old.

“Oh yeah, him.”

“Yangyang, spill it.”

“So, we both though it’d be a dope idea to be friends with benefits, seeing how we’re the only single people in this house, well, Taeil doesn’t count, because he’s not interested in any romance or sex. Anyway, it turned out to not be that great an idea.”

Kun had the uncomfortable feeling he knew where this was going. Friends with benefits mostly went this direction. And he had noticed Kunhang fleeing the living room the moment Yangyang entered twice the last days. Though he hadn’t really suspected this to be the reason. 

“Anyway, uh, I mean, I like Kunhang, but I don’t… my relationships never work out. So, I told him that it’s not a good idea, but now it’s really awkward and I feel terrible and I kinda miss him? I mean, he’s still around, but I never see him anymore and… yeah. What should I do?”

Kun sighed deeply. 

“First of all, you should figure out what you feel for him. So you don’t… accidentally make it worse. And when you figured that out, please, for the love of god, talk to him. I know you love talking, but not about serious things, but it’s important to be on the same page!” 

“But how do I figure it out?” 

“You say you miss him. What do you miss? The sex, or his company?”

“Uh… both?”

“Well, there you have your answer.”

“But what if it ends up badly again?”

“Yangyang? Did you develop commitment issues? When did that happen?”

“Commitment issues? No, no, no.”

“Yes. Listen to yourself.”

“No, I don’t want those!”

“Well, then don’t run from potential romance!”

“But what if…. Shit, I do have commitment issues. Kun, make them go away!”

“Abracadabra, simsalabim. Okay, now go and talk to Kunhang and tell him you’re a bit dense, but also like him and would like to give the relationship a try.”

“Okay… thank you.”

 

Kun wasn’t sure if Yangyang had figured his shit out yet. But he also didn’t want to be too overbearing and cut in against. If It was still awkward in a month, he’d try and talk some sense into Yangyang. Again.

For now, he focussed on his boyfriend and the impending visit from China, that had him visibly on edge. He distracted him with kisses, with hugs, and flowers, as well as more sex. 

But unfortunately, it was out of his powers to give Dejun wonderful, understanding parents, who cared deeply for their child in the way he needed. 

 

“How do I look?” Dejun twirled around himself. He was in a black button down and dark skinny jeans, his hair was bright, royal blue. 

“Very handsome. But also like you’d get detention from your teacher.”

“Perfect, that’s the look I was going for.” Dejun giggled and hopped towards Kun, where he fiddled with the collar of Kun’s light blue button down. Where Dejun fulfilled the role of the class delinquent, Kun was the teacher pleaser…

“Alright, are you ready?”

“Yes.” Dejun huffed and puffed his chest. 

 

The Xiaos had chosen a traditional Korean restaurant and Kun was not looking forward to that. If only there was a portable blender… 

He easily spotted them. They looked like in the photo on Dejun’s dresser, a bit older, sure, but the facial structures were unchanged. He saw a bit of Dejun in both of them. A good-looking pair, really. 

They didn’t usually hold hands on the street, to avoid nasty looks, but as they got closer, Dejun walked so close to Kun their arms were touching permanently, making it quite obvious they weren’t just two dudes being bros. 

“Mother, Father. It’s been a while.” Dejun greeted. There was a smile on his face, but it was small, timid maybe. Definitely short of the beautiful beams Kun loved the most. 

“Dejun. We’re sorry, but we were busy, I’m sure you understand, being a scientist yourself now.” His father greeted. His smile looked frozen and distant.

“You look better, Dejun. How are you feeling?” his mother asked, her smile a bit more genuine.

“I’m feeling alright. Mother, Father, this is Qian Kun, my boyfriend.”

Kun bowed quickly and put on his best people pleasing smile. The type to sell trust funds with. 

“Boy…friend?” Dejun’s mother seemed surprised. 

“Dejun, we told you, it was wrong to act on these… ideas.”

“Let him be, darling, it’s not harming anyone.” Mrs Xiao soothed. “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Kun returned. 

“Shall we go inside then?” Mr Xiao asked, giving Kun a hard glare and no greeting.

 

The atmosphere was ice cold, as they ordered food. Dejun’s parents asked about the thesis, they asked about the work Dejun was doing now, and they completely ignored Kun’s existence. Which was fine with him. He was only here for Dejun.

And he never moved his hand from his boyfriend’s thigh, offering silent support as he answered the distant and formal questions. 

The good thing was, that no one noticed that Kun only munched on two mouth fulls of rice for the whole duration of the lunch. Dejun also didn’t seem to take the lack of true interest in his person too badly, keeping up the small smile. Maybe he was used to it, had expected it, and thus prepared himself to not get hurt.

They finished the food and started to pack up, ready to leave when Mr Xiao spoke up again.

“Well, Dejun, I’m glad to hear you’re doing such good work. But…” he glanced at Kun “Maybe it’d be better to look for a girl to date… maybe marry? You have to remember your reputation, for future jobs.”

“Father… what future?” Dejun bit out, the first time in over an hour that he seemed to talk back. Kun tightened his grip on his leg. He wanted to take the pain that was in those words, he didn’t want Dejun to have to feel it.

“I don’t have a future, so why not do what I want?” It wasn’t true anymore. At least this Kun had been able to give him. But his parents, of course, didn’t know that and the reality of this didn’t just drop off Dejun, even after months of being immortal.

“Dejun, don’t be so selfish. It’ll be fine, stop talking like you’re dying tomorrow. There’ll be some… cure.” Mrs Xiao said, face painted with a fake smile. Kun felt his eyebrows furrow… she was in denial over what would have been unavoidable. Maybe that was why they didn’t come to see him, because he had been withering away before. To write a narrative for themselves, where their son was healthy?

And while Kun understood that… it seemed just cruel to leave your child to deal with his sickness all by himself. No matter how hard it was on yourself, you couldn’t just pretend it wasn’t happening!

“No, there won’t.” Dejun said, voice hard.

“Dejun, stop it. Don’t you see it pains your mother?” Mr Xiao cut in. 

“And what about me? It pains me, too. I try to make you proud, but you don’t even see. I just… I just want you to… care.” Dejun whispered the last word, his façade crumbling down in just one sentence.

“Dejun we… do care. And we’re very proud you got your master’s degree. And a good job. You did well!” Mr Xiao explained slowly, glancing at Kun for the first time since meeting him. “But are you truly happy like this?”

“I am. I’m the happiest I’ve been in years.” Dejun assured, dropping his hand on top of Kun’s. His parents couldn’t directly see, but they might still get what he was doing under the table.

There were a few moments of silence. Mrs Xiao blinked away her tears and put on a new smile, one that seemed a bit more genuine.

“If you’re happy, that’s all I wish for.” She said softly “So, please take good care of my Dejun, will you?” she fixed Kun in a stare.

“I will.” Kun didn’t even have to think about that.

Mr Xiao seemed to take a bit longer, but then he, too nodded. 

“If that’s what you want… I shouldn’t be the one keeping you from it. Do you want us to… call you more?” 

“Yes, I would like that.” Dejun muttered.

“But you have to promise you keep up trying to look for a cure, for a way to become better.” Mrs Xiao insisted.

“Okay.” Dejun nodded, squeezing Kun’s hand harder, but a happy smile danced on his lips now “I promise.”

 

Dejun kept it together until they stepped inside the house. Kun was untying his shoes, when he heard him start to sniffle and when he straightened back up in alarm, Dejun fell against him with a sob. 

“Hey. Shhh, it’s okay.” Kun whispered, quickly wrapping him in a hug. 

Taeyong’s head popped into the entrance hall, eyes wide.

“What’s wrong?”

Dejun tried to answer, but the words were too obscured from his hick-ups. 

“Did it go badly?” Taeyong mouthed at Kun, face worried. He had had his fair share of bad parenting both from his mother, and indirectly by standing with his boyfriend to face his parents, who were as homophobic as it got.

Kun shook his head and smiled, which relieved Taeyong visibly. “Happy tears?”

“Yes.”

“Dejun, do you want ice cream? That always helps with everything!” Taeyong offered and Dejun pulled away from Kun to nod vigorously. 

Because of the big kitchen they had, they could keep a freezer, and that was stocked with ice cream and questionable ingredients for smoothies or blended food. 

One of the major benefits, according to Dejun, was that lactose intolerance wasn’t a thing in vampires. So he could happily devour a whole tub of chocolate ice cream in peace, while Taeyong retold the story of Yangyang and Kunhang making a huge scene in the kitchen right after Kun and him left for the lunch date.

Apparently, everyone who had been at home had watched with bated breaths, as the two screamed at each other for 15 minutes in multiple languages and the whole thing ended in a very hot make-out session, possibly leading up to make-up sex, but luckily the two had remembered that Taeyong had begged everyone to keep the kitchen clean and moved locations before going at it.

“I didn’t know they were a couple.” Dejun asked, while scratching the last spoon of chocolate from the container. 

“Neither did I. But Yuta and Lucas did. I mean, they’re cute together, aren’t they? I’m happy for them.”

“I hope that was actually the last of that.” Kun sighed. At least it seemed like Yangyang had at least partially followed his advice. He had to take what he got, didn’t he?

Dejun got comfortable with his head on Kun’s lap now, switching on the tv and they just drifted into comfortable silence. 

 

Like so often, many of the other coven members started to pile up in the living room, either watching what was running on the tv, or just talking among each other. It was like the most comfortable, domestic setting Kun could possibly think of, as he kept massaging Dejun’s scalp. His boyfriend had passed out long ago, but Kun found it comfortable where he was.

The discussion about the superiority of Sailor Moon over any other magical girl Anime between Yuta, Taeyong, Dongyoung, and Jungwoo had gotten out of control some time ago, and Kun just used it was a nice background noise. 

“Rei and Minako were clearly in a relationship! The Manga leaves no doubt about that!”

“The Manga confirmed they were dating the guards of Mamoru!”

“Well, no shit, in their past lives! Those dudes were evil and are dead in the present. They’re so dating. Stop the bisexual erasure!”

“When did we shift from the Anime to the Manga?”

“The Manga is inseparable from any Anime, you uncultured swine!”

“Uh, I never read the Manga.”

Silence.

Kun started braiding the blue strands of Dejun’s hair into a Dutch braid over the side of his head he had access to. It was a bit crooked. But on Dejun, anything would be beautiful. Maybe he should pray for Dongyoung? I looked liked he was going to be torn to shreds any second now.

 

Dejun met up with his parents once more before they returned to Guangzhou. Kun didn’t want to intrude and he hadn’t been asked to tag along, so he didn’t want to intrude Dejun trying to fix the relationship with his family.

But he couldn’t help think about him the whole day, as he stress-cleaned the bathroom, his room, and then Dejun’s room.

The Christmas Rose was still looking beautiful, sparkling was brightly as it had the day Kun had brought it. He furrowed his brows. That was really… impressive. It should hat least have changed a little, some leaves would have withered by now, no matter how loving Dejun was with his plants. 

Kun carefully ran his fingers over the red leaves, but they felt plump and fresh. Dejun really had the most impressive gardening skills Kun had ever seen, he thought, as he inspected the dust of glitter that had stuck to his fingers.

When everything was spot clean, but only two hours had passed, Kun frustratedly wandered into the living room where Kunhang and Dongyoung were brooding over the Cantonese textbooks Dongyoung had gotten himself. Something about needing to learn more foreign languages. How he started off with Cantonese out of everything was a bit funny, but not really that weird, seeing how his boyfriend was from Hongkong. 

Also, Hongkong used traditional Hanzi and the use of those was something Kun strongly supported. 

He could use some brush up on his own Cantonese skills, so he settled on the table next to them, looking over Kunhang’s shoulder into the book. 

He didn’t realise Kunhang was slowly shrinking away from him, until his chair loudly knocked into Dongyoung’s, making the youngest vampire startle so badly he threw his pencil.

“Hendery, where do you plan on moving to?” Dongyoung complained and dove under the table to retrieve his pencil.

“Haha, sorry, sorry. Silly me.” Kunhang glanced at Kun, who raised his eyebrows in surprise. 

Was Kunhang scared of him?

How had that happened? And how could he make Yangyang, Yuta, and Ten do the same?

He decided not to comment on it, but instead of focussing on Cantonese grammar, he focussed on Kunhang and how he definitely tried to lean as far away from Kun as physically possible. Now, Kun wasn’t a mean person. But this was sort of amusing, so he made sure to try and get a good look at the example conversation, which just so happened to make it necessary to get closer to Kunhang.

They struggled through the fictional woman buying a fictional shirt from a fictional vendor and fictionally haggling over the price. 

“Good, it’s sounding much more fluent already. How much time do you think will you need to memorise the vocabulary?” Kunhang asked, already scooting his chair back, but Kun grabbed the armrest and kept him there.

“Uh… two, maybe three days?” Dongyoung eyed the list of Hanzi.

“Great. Great, then we’ll continue in three days? Maybe practice the reading with Yukhei?”

“I’ll try. But he usually re-enacts them and I end up laughing instead of learning anything.” Dongyoung couldn’t hold an affectionate smile.

“Oh. Yeah. I can see that.”

“Thanks for taking the time.”

Dongyoung took his things and disappeared towards his room and Kunhang tried to scoot backwards again, but Kun still had his hand on his chair. 

“Kunhang? Is there any problem you’d like to discuss?” Kun asked, trying not to sound too amused. That wasn’t polite.

“Uh…” Kunhang broke into a nervous chuckle “I mean, uh, haha, you don’t have a problem with me?”

“No? Why should I?”

Kunhang stopped trying to flee, instead seeming confused now.

“You aren’t, like… because Yangyang and I were kinda, are kinda… messing around? Because it feels like something a parent would disapprove. Wait. You aren’t his mother. Shit. Sorry.”

“Wait. You’re still messing around?” Kun asked, raising a hand to halt Kunhang.

“Uh – kind of? I mean, it’s a bit of a grey zone?”

Kun groaned and rubbed his face. So Yangyang hadn’t properly talked to Kunhang. 

“Okay, yeah, no Yangyang can do whatever he wants and the only person who’s actually has to fear anything if he fucks this up is himself.” Kun straightened up. “But it’s sort of funny, to see you intimidated. It doesn’t happen a lot.”

“Yeah, I though the Kun-Ma joke was funny until it felt like I was trying to get a parent’s approval.”

“In that case, you definitely have that. Bet let me give you a warning: Yangyang’s bad with words.”

“I already noticed that.”

Kun smiled encouragingly and meant it. 

 

When Dejun returned in the evening, he seemed to be in a good mood, which then put Kun in a good mood, too, of course. So good, that he apparently accidentally agreed into going to EXO on New Year’s Eve with the whole coven being a great idea.

Well, Johnny had assured him that the Hunters weren’t that much on the lookout during the festivities anyway. Understandably, no one wanted to squeeze themselves into the tightly packed clubs, when it was the night even people who hated partying went to party. 

You must be out of your mind to think that would be a simply brilliant idea.

Meaning, Kun should have known his coven would come up with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG only one chapter left, when did that happen?  
> The last update will come in 2 days, before we can all together freak out watching the Regular stage.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s coming to an end… I really enjoyed writing this, so it’s extra sad to let it end, but every story needs to come to its closure and for this I feel like dragging it on longer would be just that: dragging it on.
> 
> Though, at this point I already know I’ll write more in this AU. After seven parts, you can’t stop anymore lol.
> 
> Like last time, smut is between the lines. ^^

“Kun, come on! It’ll be super handsome!”

“Yuta, no! I like my hair just how it is.”

“Yes, the undercut is sexy, but black? Come on.”

“Black isn’t a colour that naturally exists in hair.”

“Can you shut the fuck up, Kim Dongyoung, I don’t fucking care, it looks black, so I call it black. You don’t hear me making fun of you every time you limp around the flat after one or two of your boyfriends fucked you.”

Kun sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Yuta had started dying other people’s hair over a year ago and there was no doubt he was good at what he was doing. Even Dongyoung had let him work his magic on him.

Kun still wasn’t so sure.

“Aw, don’t be mean to Doie! He’s always so cute when he bottoms, it’s like a different person to when he tops.” Lucas cooed, leaning onto his boyfriend. Dongyoung screeched and held his mouth shut.

“No way, is smart-ass Dongyoung a whiny bottom?” Yuta asked, his smirk getting bigger and bigger by the second.

“We are not discussing this!” Dongyoung’s voice was high and shrill. Kun was still wondering, if it’d really hurt to dye his hair. Mrs Wang surely wouldn’t fire him over it. Maybe just something lighter?

“Sounds like someone who’s a whiny bottom and ashamed of it would say.” Yuta teased. Blond maybe? Kun had never tried blond before. Well, overall the list of hair colours he had tried was… short. Very short. Black and Brown.

“Are you talking about Taeyong? Since when is he ashamed of anything?” Kunhang came into the room, a mountain of clothing over his arm, most of it sparkly or shiny.

“Oh no, we don’t have to assume Taeyong’s a whiny bottom, we all know that. But did you know Dongyoung was, too?” Would Kun be underdressed in his black trousers and t-shirt? Probably… he should have thought of this, why did he always only realise on the day they were going somewhere that he had nothing to wear? Ten would probably put him into one of those leather pants that left nothing to the imagination again.

“I never said I were! You made that up all by yourself!” What was Dejun wearing, anyway? Kun knew he went shopping with Sicheng and Taeyong, but what came of it he had never found out. Well, it didn’t really matter, since he’d look drop-dead gorgeous anyway.

“Someone who screams as unabashedly as you shouldn’t be assuming anything about others, don’t you think? I mean, the walls are thick, but you’re damn loud!” Dejun’s clothing would probably match with his hair. Damn, did Kun have anything in royal blue he could wear, so he’d match with Dejun?

“Aw, don’t be jealous we can’t all have boyfriends who make us come untouched three times in a row.” Did blond match with royal blue? Maybe a light, ashy tone? Honey blond would probably look weird, anyway. Just not the barbie girl hair Mark had had, please, Kun was sure he was too old to pull something like that off.

“My dear house-mates, are you talking about the sins of the flesh again? This is a good Christian household, where we wait until marriage to lay with another.” Maybe Kun should just stick with his dark hair. It did the job just fine…

“Thank you, Johnny.” Dongyoung sighed deeply. Kun snapped back into the conversation.

“Anyway, Kun, I’m thinking either blue to match your bae, or orange to contradict him.”

“Definitely not.” Kun shook his head “If you’re set on it, do ash blond.”

Yuta beamed “Ash blond will do just fine!”

 

Kun was waiting for the bleach to lift his hair to a level something – Yuta had sounded very professional about it, but Kun hadn’t understood a word – and used the time to find out how badly underdressed he was going to be exactly, by asking everyone what they were going to wear.

Jungwoo had set up a couple (truple?) outfit for him, Dongyoung, and Lucas, all in some elegant patterned black and white suits that weren’t identical, but close enough to obviously belong together, which would make Kun look like a rubbish bag next to three models. The fact that they all were tall with broad shoulders and long legs would only add to the effect. This was already off to a good start.

Yuta and Sicheng were also going for the couple look, Yuta’s black top was some fling from silk and almost see through. Sicheng’s was white and from thicker material. Kun was pretty sure he could hold up to them, but then Yuta got started on shoes and Kun lost him between special, limited edition, and Gucci. Regardless, he wouldn’t feel as bad next to these two, which lightened his spirits considerably.

Ten, unsurprisingly, was going in one of his leather pants, where Johnny would be wearing the leather in his jacket. They’d probably look like the Devil and Satan reincarnated. A look Kun simply felt incompetent to pull off.

He wanted to give up after Taeyong excitedly had explained the concept of his and Jaehyun’s couple outfit over the duration of 15 minutes. It was really adorable, but also a bit too much, when Kun knew from one look that this, too, wouldn’t help his own case of boring-party-outfit.

 

“What do you mean, outfit?” Taeil asked, blinking in confusion. “I thought, I’d wear some jeans and a tee?”

Yuta gasped dramatically behind Kun, where he was checking the strands of his hair to decide if it was time to wash out.

“You aren’t! Jeans?” he shrieked.

At least Kun wouldn’t be the worst fashion nightmare the coven had to deal with today.

 

It took another 2 hours of dye, blow drying, toner and more blow drying to finish. But when Kun looked into the mirror, he almost didn’t recognise himself for a second.

“Holy shit.” He whispered.

“I know, I know. I’m a genius.” Yuta grinned.

“I’d like to say don’t be so full of yourself, but… you kind of are.”

Yuta bathed in the compliment, but Kun had other thoughts than caring about his ego getting too big to fit the house.

“Thank you! You really did a great job, Yuta.”

“Aw, I’m getting all choked up and the need to call you Kun-Ma as well.”

“Please don’t. I might have to strangle you and I don’t think I can face Sicheng’s wrath and come out on top.”

“Speaking of topping, I was so surprised to find out you weren’t doing any of that with Dejun.”

“Yuta, don’t push your luck.”

“Fine, be boring. Speaking off, what are you wearing? Do we need to hand you over to Ten for a make-over, too?”

“I… I really don’t think that’ll be necessary.”

“Sounds like it will. Please give him at least 20 minutes.”

Kun sighed and decided to look at his outfit again and then decide if he needed serious help. And if he was ready to get everything he had downstairs pushed up, so he looked like he was packing like Johnny.

 

But first he had to show off his new hair to Dejun.

 

His boyfriend was on his bed, flipping through a book thicker than the bible and looked up, when Kun stepped inside, pretty smile already on. He gasped, when he realised the change, though.

“Oh my god, you look so handsome!” Dejun squeaked, slapping the book shut and jumping off the bed towards him. “I mean, you always look very handsome. But now you look extra handsome, because this is new!”

He ran a hand through the strands, eying them in deep concentration.

“Can we push it back? Oh, this looks so hot!” Dejun’s tongue started poking from between his lips, as he worked Kun’s hair back out of his face.

“You can do whatever you want. Oh, but I apparently need to tell Ten 20 minutes before we leave that I’m a lost cause clothing wise.” Kun placed his hands on Dejun’s slim waist, intending to pull him closer and kiss.

“Oh, but you aren’t!” Dejun pulled back and Kun let him go a bit unwillingly “I bought us couple outfits! Didn’t I mention?”

“Uh… no?”

“Right, I remember now, I forgot to tell you, because of the shower. Sorry. Let me show you!” Dejun chirped and twirled to his closet.

Kun did also remember that shower, a fond memory rated 18+. But mainly, he was glad to for once not be a fashion-disappointment.

“And by the way, I found out more about the pixie dust I found. Finally! There’s so much misinformation out there, it’s making me want to weep. But there’s this really great book by an Irish woman who lived in the woods and wrote down everything she knew about fairies before she died and she also said, that a fairy’s trails won’t stay, so they won’t get discovered. So I think it’s probably the best to leave the fairy alone, even if they showed back up.”

Kun stared at the flowers around Dejun’s room. The Christmas Rose was looking a tiny bit sadder today. “It’s really kind of them to take care of your flowers, don’t you think?” Kun asked.

“Yes, I’m so thankful, but I don’t want to scare them away or anything. So I’ll be thankful in quiet.”

“I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.”

 

Kun wondered if it was time to start a list, as he counted the heads of people in the entrance hall once more. A list would be handy, he could just cross out people, or make little check marks. And then he could write down who had gone where over the evening.

Sold, he was so making a list first thing tomorrow.

“I never knew turtlenecks could be sexy.” Ten whistled and nodded.

“Please don’t call Kun-Ma sexy, it’s making me uncomfortable.” Lucas shivered. Maybe it was from the actual cold, since he had skipped wearing a shirt.

“Where’s Yangyang?” Kun asked, after he had finally figured out who was missing. His favourite child and he hadn’t figured out it was him not here. Shame on him.

“He’s still busy, we should leave without him.” Kunhang beamed and his smile made Kun want to shiver, too, despite wearing a shirt.

“Right. Yangyang will be lost in Seoul, though, so we have to wait.” Kun decided with a sigh. He really wanted to interject into this relationship or whatever it was, but he also didn’t want to be overbearing, so he’d have to let the two figure it out.

“Time for another round of shorts then.” Jungwoo chirped and pushed past Kun to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of Jack Daniels.

“What about the glasses?” Taeil asked.

“Oh, that’s too much work. Just drink straight from the bottle.” Jungwoo chirped and twisted it open with a flick of his wrist.

“Then Jaehyun can’t go first, or no one else will get the chance to get drunk!” Dongyoung complained and held his hand out.

Did Kun maybe still have enough time to make that name list?

 

Yangyang turned up before the bottle had even made half a round, looking very put together and effortlessly handsome in the skinny cut black denim and a turquoise shirt. He even managed to get some rum before Kun herded them outside.

 

Junmyeon’s club was buzzing, which wasn’t a surprise. However, with Yuta and Dongyoung in tow, Kun wasn’t going to go anywhere else. There was no other supernatural-run club in Seoul. It was EXO or the sofa at home.

Lucky for them, Minseok, one of Junmyeon’s bouncers, had a weak spot for them – and maybe had a nice night with one of the coven members, if Kun interpreted the look on his face correctly – and let them in.

The lights were flickering inside, distorting the faces of the people crowding around everywhere. The music seemed to be even louder than normally. Chanyeol was playing remixes of the hits of the year, the dancers and the pedestals picking up the matching choreography and heating up the crowd.

Kun immediately lost more than half the coven, either headed for the bar, or for the dance floor. Dejun stuck to his arm, though, and Sicheng and Yuta were staying behind for now as well.

“Want to get something to drink?” Kun shouted over the music into Dejun’s ear. Even vampire senses didn’t help you in a setting like this.

Dejun nodded and smiled the light catching on his teeth for a moment.

 

Having already been here before, Dejun knew where he wanted to go. And where Dejun wanted to go, Kun would follow, so they found themselves close to the DJ booth, trying to move between bodies pressing.

Kun spotted Taeyong on one of the dancers’ platforms, as par usual. If you looked close enough, you could see Jaehyun on the foot somewhere, undressing his boyfriend with his eyes. Kun didn’t, though. Not today, anyway. Today, his eyes immediately were back on Dejun, how the light made his blue hair look differently coloured, how the fabric of his white turtleneck pulled over his chest.

It was enough to get him completely lost in staring at him, until Dejun broke him out of it by asking for more drinks.

Kun spotted Jungwoo trying to chat up Yixing at the bar until Dongyoung noticed his boyfriend having gone astray and dragged him back. The three looked like someone had cut them out of a fashion magazine and made very realistic standees of them. If Jungwoo hadn’t tried to get the bartender out of everyone to sleep with them, he would have undoubtably succeeded, more than one thirsty look was directed their way, and for good reason.

Midnight came much too quick, the hours passing in a blur of dancing and subtle, quick kisses on Dejun’s cheeks whenever he got the chance to.

Most of the party-goers streamed into the streets of Hongdae, someone loudly counted down the seconds from 60 and Kun tightly held into Dejun’s hand, who squeezed right back.

Last year, Kun had also been watching firework, thinking how nice it was that some in his coven had found love.

But this… this was better!

The first spark of colourful light exploded over them and the crowd awed.

“It’s so pretty!” Dejun squealed, leaning into Kun. He glanced over and saw the light of the fireworks reflect in Dejun’s eyes, framed with those thick lashes and brows, looking ethereal.

Kun had seen fireworks many times. But never liked this. He couldn’t look away, keeping his eyes on Dejun instead, until the lights got fewer and Dejun turned to return the gaze.

“It looks like Pixie dust, don’t you think? Sparkly, but will fade.”

“Hm, that’s right.”

“So? What do we do now?” Dejun asked, keeping his voice low, as people passed them, returning to the club.

“Do you have something in mind?”

 

* * *

 

Thank god, Kun hadn’t made that list. It would have been waste of time, since he was the first one to leave today.

But the thought was only fleeting, as Dejun stretched over the bed under him, moaning from Kun flicking his tongue over a nipple. Turtleneck were hard to get out of. But they had managed and the beautiful outfits were nothing but a pile on the floor now.

“Kun, stop teasing!” Dejun complained and Kun bit down on the bud lightly, making him cry out.

“I’m not teasing! I would never.” Kun blinked down on him innocently.

“You tease all the time.” Dejun pouted and patted the bed next to him in search of the lube they had thrown down earlier.

“Aw, I’ll make it up to you, baby.” Kun reached over to help Dejun in his effort of getting the lube. Strawberry scented. Of course.

But Dejun thrusted it into his hand instead.

“Fuck me!” he all but ordered and Kun felt a spark of arousal down his spine.

He would have asked if he was sure. But the look of Dejun’s face made that redundant. Instead, he snapped open the cap and ignored the artificial strawberry in favour of getting two fingers thoroughly coated.

Dejun eyed him with hooded eyed and Kun had to lean down and kiss him, his lips much too shiny and tempting to deny. He felt him lace his fingers into his hair as he sucked on his tongue.

Kun blindly found his entrance and massaged around it a few times to loosen him, before pushing in, slowly and gently, making Dejun sigh contently under his lips.

“Tell me anything you don’t like.” Kun whispered, starting to thrust his finger carefully, passing by the sensitive spots he knew by heart.

“Hmh.” Dejun nodded, eyes fluttering shut, unclenching his hands from Kun’s hair and into the sheets.

Kun carefully added another finger, easing Dejun into it. He knew how to get Dejun to relax around them by stroking a finger up his dick for distraction and pleasure, so he did just that and watched him arch over the sheets, nipples perking up, Goosebumps over his skin.

“So pretty.” Kun whispered, leaning up to suck on one of his nipples, which made Dejun twitch under him, clench down rhythmically on Kun’s fingers in his ass.

Kun waited until he felt relaxed again, before he slowly pushed his fingers apart, aiming to get a bigger stretch. Dejun breathed evenly, but a bit shallower. Kun kept his eyes trained on his face, looking for signs of pain or serious discomfort. That was not what he wanted. But he didn’t seem to be in either, face scrunched up in pleasure.

“How do you feel?” Kun asked, just to make sure, his fingers rubbing just past Dejun’s prostate to keep him pleasured, but not overwhelmed yet.

“Good, Kun, it’s so good!” Dejun assured, tipping his head down to look at him, his eyes big and dark, not hiding anything.

Kun hummed and rubbed a third finger against the rim, slowly warming him up, before he could add it where his fingers had made space for a third before.

Dejun didn’t stiffen, he didn’t whine, he breathed deeply, but nothing else changed, so Kun slowly, very slowly eased three in as far as he knew Dejun would need them, still pressing his sensitive and good spots with precision.

He watched Dejun’s dick starting to leak over his stomach and felt pride at being able to make his boyfriend so good blossom in his chest.

“I think it’s okay, I’m okay, Kun.” Dejun rasped and Kun nodded, slowly pulling out as to not overwhelm him with the sudden feeling of emptiness.

He bit down on the foil of the condom, fingers too slippery to open it, and it easily gave when he pulled on it. His dick was sensitive from neglect and twitched at the first tough, so Kun gave himself two quick pumps before rolling the condom on, taking more strawberry lube to coat himself.

Dejun was watching him intently. Kun leaned down over him and caught his lips, tongues working against each other in a filthy kiss.

“Do you want to stay like this?” Kun asked. “On all fours is easier.”

“No. I want to see you. Or I could ride you?”

Kun chuckled and stroked a finger over his eager boyfriend’s cheek. Kun was terrible at riding people, so they hadn’t done that yet, but of course, Dejun would want to try it.

“Next time? This time, I want to make you feel good, okay?”

Dejun hummed in content and Kun propped his hips up.

Kun couldn’t stop himself from staring a little. Dejun was simply beautiful like this, eyes dark and filled with lust, nipples pert, his dick hard, hole slick and pink.

“Baby, please.” He felt a leg wrap around him, nudge his ass a bit.

“I know, babe.” Kun smiled. Dejun would probably get more patient with time. But until then, he’d have to hurry himself a little.

He lined up, holding Dejun’s hips carefully, not wanting to bruise, as the other folded his legs around his waist, staring up with so much trust and love, Kun wanted to pause and kiss him for another two hours.

But instead, he pushed forwards slowly. He needed a little pressure to breach Dejun, tight despite the stretching. The warm felt amazing, inviting, and hot around him, but Kun still halted, eying Dejun. He looked a bit strained, so Kun reached down and tugged on his dick carefully, as to not overwhelm him with too much stimulation. It worked like a charm and he felt Dejun’s walls give around him, making it easy to slide in a bit deeper.

“I feels really weird.” Dejun huskily said “I don’t know if it’s good or I hate it. It’s so… thick.” His breath hitched and Kun halted again.

“You’re doing wonderfully, keeping relaxed so well for me.” Kun assured, rubbing the hip under his fingers. “I’ll make you feel amazing in just a bit.”

“Hm, I know you will.” Dejun looked up, meaning every word and Kun wanted to thrust into him, hit that sweet spot until he was crying. But he held back. Nice and slow. Maybe, if Dejun liked it, they could try it rougher one day. Not right now.

Kun waited until he could push in further without resistance again and was able to bottom out this time, holding still against Dejun’s ass, despite the warmth calling for him to fuck into.

Dejun was squirming a little, trying to get comfortable by moving his legs, angling his hips. Kun soothed him with rubbing, until he seemed satisfied and held still.

“I’m kinda glad I didn’t do this first. Thank you!” Dejun whispered, smiling “But I think you can move now.”

“Alright, tell me whenever you change your mind.” Kun reminded, but hoped Dejun wouldn’t. He was confident in his abilities to make his partner lose any coherent thought.

Kun pulled out a little only at first, circling his hips in tiny thrusts. The lube squelched and Kun felt the sound send shivers down his spine. Dejun’s ankles were crossed behind his back, but not pressing into him like it hurt, so Kun slowly made his moves bigger, using his hips in every thrust, so his dick was pressing into Dejun’s walls.

The first full pass ripped a gasp from Dejun’s lips, which told Kun he was hitting where he intended to, right against his prostate. When he repeated the same move again, Dejun started moaning softly, his legs spreading wider on their own accord, relaxing fully around Kun.

Kun watched every twitch in Dejun’s face, every flutter of his lashes, how his mouth slowly fell open wider and wider, as each thrust into him made him moan a little louder, a little dirtier.

He settled with long, precise moves and kept the rhythm steady for a bit.

“Good?” he asked, the words deeper than normal, having to push them out.

Dejun replied mindless gurgling, his fingers tightening in the sheets. Kun smirked at himself and picked the pace up, having to steady himself a bit more on the bed to keep the momentum up.

“Ah!” Dejun cried out, when Kun grabbed his hips just a little tighter, angling them up differently, allowing him to meet the thrusts easier. “Fuck, fuck, Kun, fuck.”

Dejun reached down between them to fist his dick and Kun let him do it, having to focus on his thrusts to make sure he was hitting just where Dejun enjoyed it the most with every move.

He felt the pressure of his own orgasm pool in his gut, but watching Dejun, he was set on making him come first, knowing he was already very close.

At this point, Kun’s muscles were starting to ache from the unfamiliar strain, but he ignored it, focussing on how warm and tight Dejun was around his dick, and how his moans got higher and more desperate, until finally, his body locked up for a second and Dejun came with a guttural moan, his thighs trembling around Kun’s waist, as he rhythmically clenched down. The additional stimulation, as well as the knowledge over how good Dejun felt, pushed Kun over the edge as well, and he felt his hips bucking on their own accord a few more times, before he pushed himself inside one last time and came with a low groan of Dejun’s name on his lips.

It took Kun a moment to calm himself, but then he carefully pulled out, Dejun quivering from being so sensitive after his orgasm moments ago, and leaned down to place sweet, small kisses all over Dejun’s cheeks, jaw, and finally his mouth. Dejun smiled against him and pushed on hand into his hair, holding him down to kiss again and again.

“I really don’t want to even stand up right now.” He sighed, when Kun finally pulled away and got rid of the nasty condom.

“Then don’t, I’ll clean you up.” Kun quickly offered and Dejun sighed happily, relaxing into the pillows.

“I love you, did I mention that?”

Kun smiled and hurried back to the bed, so he could kiss Dejun once more.

“You did, but I want to hear it until the end of times. Because I love you, too. Alright, let’s get a towel and clean you up.”

 

* * *

 

Neither of them had gotten dressed after the activities last night and Kun woke up pressed skin to skin against Dejun. But he wasn’t in his normal death grip wrapped around Kun, which meant he had to already be awake. Kun slowly blinked open his eyes and, as expected, found Dejun up and well next to himself, staring intensely at the window.

No, at the window still, Kun followed his gaze, that landed on the succulent living its best life there.

Only… there was something that looked like a firefly buzzing around it. A sparkling firefly.

Kun rubbed his eyes to confirm he was seeing this. And he remembered Dejun deciding to keep quiet, should the fairy return, so he made sure to keep his mouth shut, as he watched in utter surprise how the light dot circled around the plant, leaving dust, before moving on to the Christmas Rose, the suspiciously well and un-withered Christmas Rose, doing the same thing there.

It paid attention to all the flowers scattered in the room, before it sat down and seemed to eat some honey. Kun glanced at Dejun, who looked like… well like he had just discovered fairies were real. Kun wanted to take a picture of his face to keep the memory clear forever, but if he scared the fairy, he’d be upset. So instead, he committed the expression of pure wonder to his mind, knowing if he recalled it often enough, he’d be able to remember forever.

The fairy seemed unaware two vampires were staring at it, though Kun wasn’t even sure how it looked like, still only able to make out the speck of light, that kept losing glitter, some of which fell to the ground, the light reflecting on it prettily.

However, Kun’s efforts of keeping quiet were rendered useless, when suddenly someone started screaming in the kitchen. Kun didn’t know what it was about today, nor did he care, though it was slightly worrisome the new year was starting off with noise loud enough to carry all the way into Dejun’s room. But he’d have to figure that out later, because the Fairy seemed to have gotten alerted and flew up from the honey, like a scared bunny would start to run.

It seemed to plan on disappearing through the window, but it smashed right into the glass, bouncing back off the surface with a small thump.

Dejun yelped and jumped off the bed, followed by Kun, who already wondered how you did first aid on a tiny fairy?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outfit inspiration: Doyoung/Jungwoo/Lucas: [Lucas in Regular](https://66.media.tumblr.com/85515d107f92bec04fe837e560e8b585/tumblr_pldnmpgOUC1y40kaeo1_1280.jpg)  
> Kun: [also](https://66.media.tumblr.com/370a49b4e35bd505292c996c668d307a/tumblr_plhlnssBhf1wb7htoo6_400.gif) Regular, but think a blue stripe instead of red
> 
> God, writing endings is always the literal worst.  
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading, I received so many comments from you. It’s absolutely heart-warming and encouraging to hear readers’ opinions, I cherish every single one! This is not my most read story, but it has the most comments, so tysm! <3  
>   
> Over the course of writing this, I had many new ideas for sequels to add to the already existing ones I had (I also now have an Excel sheet to keep track of everything, because boy, this AU is getting complicated), but I don’t really know which ones will turn into stories yet and when, because I have ideas, but I’m a little burnt out with writing rn. 
> 
>  
> 
> [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/Fox_155)


End file.
